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Shared problems, shared costs and common solutions. Cooperation for clean technology development in the Swedish pulp- and paper industry 1900-1990.
| Development and diffusion of “Clean Technologies” (CT) are generally acknowledged as particularly important to stabilise climate change and promoting industrial growth that are more sustainable. This paper deals with the development and diffusion of CT within Swedish forest industry during a period when pioneering steps were taken towards cleaner production processes. We will focus on the 1960s and 70s and address the role of business cooperation and state-industry cooperation in targeting pollution problems which for the most part were common for all plants in the pulp and paper sector. The role of cooperation and joint financed research institutes will be especially discussed.
The Swedish forest industry embarked on pollution abatement long before this became a general concern. Already in 1954 the Water laboratory of the Forest Industry was set up to develop methods for reduction of pollution. During the sixties, initial environmental care was taken in close cooperation with the government. In 1966 the water laboratory was reorganised and enlarged to become the “Institute of Water and Air Protection (IVL)“. In this new form, IVL was financed jointly by the Swedish government and the industry. When a more rigid anti pollution legislation was taken in 1969, the forest industry responded to the challenge by setting up numerous ambitious collective pollution abatement projects. Those R&D project were coordinated by the board of the Forest Industry Research Foundation for Air and Water Protection (SSVL), to organise development projects. In this paper, we focus on the novel activities of IVL and SSVL and explore its achievements on CT development and diffusion in Swedish pulp and paper industries, which became pioneering the development of important CT during the 1970s.
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