​​Circa is a renewable chemicals company with the scalable technology to produce unique and highly valuable bio-based chemicals. Our Furacell™ production process takes abundant waste biomass and makes a platform molecule, levoglucosenone (LGO).

From this versatile building block, multiple sustainable bio-based chemicals have been developed to replace unsustainable fossil-based chemicals in a wide range of applications. Our bio-based solvent Cyrene™, derived from LGO, is greener, safer and often performs better than traditional toxic solvents used in paints, coatings, battery and textile applications as well as many more industrial processes. Circa Group AS is incorporated in Norway with its head office in Oslo and listed on Euronext with the ticker code CIRCA.

2006

Circa Established

2009

Furacell™ technology patented

2014

First Cyrene™ publication by University of York

2015

Partnership with Norske Skog to build fifth prototype plant

2017

Bio-based chemical innovation of the year

2020

EU Horizon grant for Project ReSolute

2021

Circa Group AS lists on Euronext

2022

Circa Renewable Chemistry Institute established

2024

ReSolute to be commissioned

2030

Future plants making 80,000 tpa

About Circa

Every year, millions of tons of sustainable, non food cellulose are underutilized or wasted. This includes waste cellulose from forestry, paper mills, crops and food processing. Circa’s founders saw this as an opportunity and set about to produce bio-based, high-performance alternatives to toxic fossil-based chemicals from the most abundant polymer in the world.

Our Furacell™ production process takes forest waste biomass and produces levoglucosenone (LGO), char, and water. The proprietary technology was developed in 2009 and fine-tuned over ten years across five pilot plants, including the FC5 plant in Tasmania, currently manufacturing LGO and Cyrene. Since then, over 1,000 trial amounts have been distributed for research by universities and industry.

An industrial plant ReSolute, currently under construction in the North East of France, will be commissioned in 2024 producing 1,000 tonnes of Cyrene™ per annum. This is the first in a series of plants on a roadmap that will see Circa build 80,000 tonnes of capacity by 2030.

Furacell™ production ReSolute project

À propos de Circa

Chaque année, des millions de tonnes de cellulose naturelle sont non valorisées ou gaspillées. Il s’agit notamment de déchets provenant de la sylviculture, des papeteries, des cultures et de l’industrie agro-alimentaire. Les fondateurs de Circa y ont vu une opportunité et ont développé à partir du polymère le plus abondant au monde des alternatives biologiques performantes aux produits chimiques toxiques d’origine fossile.

Fondée en 2006, Circa est une société de chimie renouvelable dotée d’une technologie industrialisable à grande echelle générant des produits chimiques biosourcés uniques et à haute valeur ajoutée. Développé et amélioré depuis 2009 grace à cinq pilotes industriels, le procédé de production appellé Furacell™, utilise des résidus forestiers et produit une molecule plateforme, la lévoglucosénone (LGO), du charbon biologique et de l’eau. Au cours des trois dernières années, plus de 1 000 essais de Recherche et Développement ont été réalisés par des universités et des industriels.

Une première bioraffinerie, appellée ReSolute, sera mise en service en 2024 et produira annuellement 1 000 tonnes de Cyrène™, un solvant biosourcé fabriqué en une seule étape à partir de la LGO. ReSolute est la première d’une série d’usines inscrites sur la feuille de route de Circa dont la capacité totale sera de 80 000 tonnes d’ici 2030.

Furacell™ production ReSolute project

Om Circa

Hvert år blir flere millioner tonn fornybar cellulose kastet, eller ikke utnyttet godt nok. Dette omfatter avfall fra skogbruk, papirfabrikker, jordbruk og matvareindustri. Grunnleggerne av Circa så muligheter i polymeren som det finnes mest overskudd av i verden, og bestemte seg for å produsere bio-baserte alternativer til de giftige og fossilbaserte kjemikaliene som er utbredt i dag.

Circa ble etablert i 2006 som et selskap innen fornybar kjemi, og har skalerbar teknologi for å produsere unike bio-baserte kjemikalier av høy verdi. Vi har kalt vår produksjonsprosess for Furacell™, og den omgjør bio-avfall til polymeren levoglucosenone (LGO), kull og vann. Denne proprietære teknologien ble utviklet i 2009 og har siden blitt finjustert i ti år på fem pilotfabrikker.

Fabrikken ReSolute er under bygging og vil stå klar i 2024 som den første fabrikken av industriell skala. ReSolute vil årlig produsere 1000 tonn Cyrene™, et bio-basert løsemiddel som raffineres i ett trinn fra LGO. ReSolute er den første av en serie planlagte fabrikker som vil gi Circa en kapasitet på 80.000 tonn innen 2030.

Furacell™ production ReSolute project

Today, Circa works with global businesses who are committed to transitioning from fossil-based chemicals, including the solvents used in their industrial processes. The market for these solvents is mostly served by unsustainable and toxic fossil-based solvents. Governments and industries worldwide are seeking substitutes to these chemicals which are harmful to human health and the environment. Cyrene™ is widely acknowledged as one of the very few viable, low-toxicity and sustainable alternatives, with probably the broadest use profile.

Circa Group AS is incorporated in Norway with its head office in Oslo and listed on Euronext Growth with the code CIRCA.

Aujourd’hui, Circa collabore avec les entreprises mondiales qui s’engagent pour abandonner les produits chimiques d’origine fossile, notamment les solvants utilisés dans leurs processus industriels. Le marché de ces solvants est constitué de produits fossiles non-durables et toxiques. Les gouvernements et les industries du monde entier cherchent des substituts à ces produits chimiques nocifs pour la santé humaine et l’environnement, et le Cyrène™ est reconnu comme étant l’une des très rares solutions de substitution viable, peu toxique et durables, avec un spectre d’utilisation le plus large.

Circa Group AS est une société de droit norvégien dont le siège social est basé à Oslo et qui est cotée sur Euronext sous le code CIRCA.

Circa jobber i dag med globale selskaper som vil gå bort fra bruk av fossilbaserte kjemikalier, deriblant de lite bærekraftige løsemidlene de bruker i sine industrielle prosesser. Dette markedet består i dag hovedsakelig av giftige fossilbaserte løsemidler som NMP og DMF. Myndigheter og industrier over hele verden søker etter substitutter til disse helse- og miljøskadelige kjemikaliene. Cyrene™ er bredt anerkjent som ett av svært få alternativer som er levedyktig og bærekraftig, og som sannsynligvis har den bredeste anvendelsesprofilen.

Circa Group AS er et norsk selskap med hovedkontor i Oslo, og er notert på Euronext Growth under selskapskoden CIRCA.

Partners

Partners enable Circa’s growth, the research and development of our products and the scaling of our production platform. Circa works directly with key customer organisations and also partners with distributors worldwide on commercial opportunities. Our approach is to select distributors with specific regional and market coverage that complements our capability and is aligned with strategic focus.

Research partners

Circa research partners play an important role in discovery, product development and applications. We work with them through multi-year collaborative research initiatives and ongoing programs of work where their specific expertise adds value to Circa’s capability.

Research initiatives

ReSolute

Production of Cyrene™ and LGO at scale

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CHAMPION

Production of bio-based polymers

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R2LiB

Recycling and production of lithium-ion batteries

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ReSolve

Development of novel bio-based solvents

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The Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence (GCCE) at York University is an internationally leading facility for pioneering pure and applied green and sustainable chemical research. Under the leadership of Professor James Clark, the GCCE has played a key role in Circa product development and its application in industrial processes. Partners on both the ReSolve and ReSolute project, the GCCE has helped develop our dipolar aprotic solvent Cyrene™. With the CHAMPION project we are working together on the replacement of existing fossil-based polymers with more sustainable LGO-based materials for use as coatings, textiles, home care formulation, and structural adhesives.

AgroParisTech is a founding member of the European Center of Biotechnology and Bioeconomy located near Reims, France. With expertise in white biotechnologies, green chemistry, and process engineering, they work on multi-disciplinary basic and applied research projects aiming to develop new industrial processes that transform agro-resources and biorefinery by-products into high value-added chemicals. AgroParisTech is part of the ReSolute consortium working on the biocatalytic synthesis of Cyrene™ at scale. They are also exploring biopolymers based on LGO derivatives, synthesis of LGO derived fine chemicals for pharmaceutical and agrochemical applications, as well as the synthesis of flavours and fragrances compounds from LGO, including dairy lactone.

The Greatrex group at the University of New England in New South Wales, Australia, is focused on translating the chirality found in LGO into products of industrial significance. They have worked on the synthesis of the flavour and fragrance molecule dairy lactone from LGO. Current projects include marketable products in the pharmaceutical space as well as organic catalysts and ligands currently used to introduce chirality in a range of chemical processes.

Circa Management

Circa is a purpose-led and values-driven renewable chemicals company. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, we listed on Euronext in 2021 and have established a global leadership team.

Bertel Karlstedt

Chief Executive Officer

Bertel joined Circa as CEO in 2024, bringing with him over 35 years of experience from a successful career in the paper, pulp, mining and energy sectors. Bertel has held several CEO roles previously and has a strong customer focus and ambition for continuous improvement.

Tone Leivestad

Chief Financial Officer

Tone has had extensive experience in finance, consulting and industry. She was previously Head of CFO Advisory at both KPMG Norway and Accenture Norway, as well as Group CFO in top-tier operations.

Philipp Morgenthaler

Head of Manufacturing

Philipp has impressive experience in the development of greenfield factories and industrial-scale production facilities. He has significant global manufacturing expertise and networks from an international career spanning almost 20 years, leading teams across Europe, USA, China and Brazil.

Alessandro Napoli

VP Product Development

Dr Alessandro Napoli has considerable experience in applied research and product development, gained at academic institutions and in the chemical industry. At Circa, he is responsible for the development of a healthy innovation pipeline based on levoglucosenone and its derivatives and for the further development of the Furacell™ process to valorise side streams.