The four-year SPIRIT programme led by Borealis ended in December 2025. Here we highlight the main conclusions from the four thematic areas of SPIRIT. We have also gathered the key results and findings in a public Final report.
Read the final report in full here.
A major achievement was the SPIRIT ecosystem itself, which built a broad collaboration network including the whole plastics industry and partners from many more value chains and research fields. Altogether 123 partners worked together through 21 joint projects. Though the programme has ended, several projects are still under way, so work supporting the green transition of the plastics industry continues.
Renewable feedstock
Borealis has assessed several technologies for integrating renewable raw materials into production. A key example is the successful trial of synthetic e-naphtha at the Porvoo steam cracker. Produced by Infinium from industrial carbon dioxide and renewable hydrogen, it marked an important step towards wider use of fossil-free feedstocks.
SPIRIT ecosystem has advanced research in this area through broad academic and industrial collaboration. ForestCUMP project converted carbon dioxide into olefins at pilot scale, GreenARO completed work on bio-based BTX products, and projects such as Bio4all, e-Propane and IsoSUS are still under way.
Research and trials during SPIRIT show that Borealis can already use renewable and recycled feedstocks at its Porvoo plants and is well positioned to expand their use in line with market demand.
Towards carbon-neutral plastics production
Borealis is developing technologies to reduce the carbon footprint of plastics production, from steam cracking to polymerisation. The company has explored furnace electrification, switching to hydrogen and biofuels, methanol-to-olefins and carbon capture technologies. Several master’s theses and joint research projects have supported this work.
At the same time with these longer-term solutions, Borealis has also improved energy efficiency and reduced emissions in its existing operations remarkably. Borealis remains committed to improving energy efficiency and achieving climate neutrality, with SPIRIT providing an important knowledge base.
Electric cracking is a promising future solution, although its viability depends heavily on energy costs. Carbon capture remains interesting though economically challenging, while hydrogen plays a key role in valorising the CO2.
Recycling plastics into high-value products
Finland still faces major plastics recycling challenges, with too much recyclable plastic waste being incinerated. The Circular plastics theme within SPIRIT has aimed to strengthen the plastics circular economy through mechanical and chemical recycling, improve access to high-quality recycled plastics, maximise material circulation and reduce incineration while supporting EU recycling targets.
The separate plastic waste collection system provides good-quality recycling feedstock, but volumes remain too low. The programme has therefore explored industrial post-sorting of mixed waste as a complementary solution. At the recycling stage, mechanical recycling remains the main option because of its efficiency and lower emissions, but chemical recycling is also needed for waste streams that cannot be handled mechanically.
SPIRIT has advanced the field through collaborative projects. UrbanMill scaled a pyrolysis process from laboratory to large pilot scale, whereas MSW Plast showed that plastic fractions from mixed waste can be industrially separated, washed and recycled into new polyethylene film. Ongoing projects continue to improve knowledge of Finland’s plastic waste streams, collection and recycling behaviour.
Although technical progress has been made, economic barriers and low demand still limit wider use of recycled materials. Stronger market demand, for example through mandatory recycled content requirements in the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, is seen as a key driver. Further research addresses recycling of food packaging, water use and microplastics management in recycling processes.
Product innovations to accelerate the green transition of the plastics industry
The fourth SPIRIT theme has focused on shaping markets for circular products through work on regulation, standardisation, certification, better product design for recycling and enabling the mass balance approach.
In ecosystem projects with research institutes and several value chain partners, work has included verifying the climate benefits of chemical recycling, assessing the limits of recycled and bio-based materials in consumer products, and demonstrating the potential of mechanically recycled polypropylene for food-contact use on a small scale. In all, these results provide a practical basis for accelerating the circular economy in Finland’s plastics sector.
In internal research projects, Borealis delivered major progress in Borstar® Nextension PE and PP technology development. Catalyst and process research and scale-up trials carried out in Porvoo during the SPIRIT programme are enabling the development towards recyclable monomaterial solutions, fulfilling Design for Recycling (DfR) requirements. Borealis launched the Borstar® Nextension PP technology in 2022 and Borstar® Nextension PE technology in 2025.
Ecosystem collaboration and shared goals as the foundation
A key part of SPIRIT ecosystem has been co-development projects with a broad partner network. Another important part has been various ecosystem events which have served as a forum to exchange ideas and build solid base for new joint actions. The ecosystem has brought together the Finnish plastics industry, partners from other value chains and international organisations to build a more sustainable future. In total, 123 partner organisations invested their own time and money in joint projects, and many others took part in the ecosystem activities in other ways. One key tool for ecosystem leadership has been active communications, including e.g. 79 news articles on this web site and the same number of articles in professional media.
SPIRIT programme managerJaakko Tuomainen is looking back at the extensive work achieved within the SPIRIT ecosystem with gratitude and joy. He concludes: ”As all the way during the programme, we see high value in open communication, and publishing the final report to all ecosystem partners continues this journey. There is a huge amount of joint effort made behind this final report. It deserves to be shared with all of you who have contributed.”
Read the final report in full here