We are proud to announce that Scion and our licensing partner Sonae Indústria (now Sonae-Arauco) won the MinterEllisonRuddWatts Research & Business Partnership Award for our partnership to commercialise a wood reinforced plastic product that can be used in cars, appliances and a range of consumer products. The award was one of five presented annually as part of the KiwiNet Research Commercialisation Awards.

The award celebrates our long-term working relationship with Sonae Indústria to successfully establish a commercial value chain for wood fibre reinforced plastics. Scion’s patented process forms wood fibre into ‘dice’, known as Woodforce, which is sold by Sonae Indústria to plastics processors. The dice can be made in existing MDF plants and easily added to a range of plastics.

Scion has been working closely with Sonae Indústria for eight years to refine Woodforce to the point where it is starting to make inroads into the market. End products that are lighter weight, thermally stable and sustainable are now being trialed and approved by major automotive manufacturers. A wide exposure to companies along the full length of the Woodforce value chain has also led to relationships being developed with other manufacturing industries to develop new products.

Scion’s Business Development Manager Jeremy Warnes sees the commercial potential for Woodforce as being in the $100s of millions in business generated on a global scale.

Scion developed and patented the technology with funding from New Zealand’s former Foundation of Research, Science and Technology (now the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment).

For further information
Contact Jeremy Warnes at
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