PARIS - Evertree, a joint venture formed by a unit of Paris-based Avril Group and its partner Biopolymer Technologies, has been launched with an investment of $79 million. The company says it plans to develop a canola-seed resin for use in the wood composite panel industry, replacing formaldehyde, a chemical used in adhesives that is known to cause cancer. 

With the aid of a $32 million investment from the French public investment bank BpiFrance, Evertree is expected to begin production in 2017 with a pilot plant in Compiègne, France, and open a full production facility in 2018. The pilot stage is aimed at creating a resin additive from rapeseed meal for the panel industry. The company expects to produce approximately 50,000 tons per year by 2020 and create 110 jobs.

Canola seeds coem from rapeseed plant. Photo: Tilo Hauke

The three partners say they intend to develop new commercial uses for vegetable proteins, in order to address new manufacturing requirements for reducing or removing VOCs. 

"Plant chemistry offers a substantial alternative to the use of fossil resources and can literally revolutionize numerous industrial applications,” said Fabrice Garrigue, CEO of Evertree.

Avril was established in 1983 by French farmers in order to assure the future of the vegetable oils and proteins sector. Through its investment arm Sofiprotéol, it supports other agricultural and agri businesses in France and internationally. Founded in 2010, Biopolymer Technologies (BPT) is an industrial science and technology development startup, specializing in the domains of Nano chemistry and bio-technology.