Releaf processes 1,000 tonnes of fallen leaves into paper fibre on pilot line
Releaf scaled its pilot operations to process 1,000 tonnes of fallen urban leaves into industrial fibres for commercial packaging.
Paris-based materials company Releaf processed about 1,000 tonnes of fallen leaves on its pilot line last year and prepares to handle roughly twice that volume next season, Tech.eu reported tech.eu
Tech.eutech.euOpen source ↗. The engineering firm extracts fibres from municipal green waste to create commercial raw materials for paper manufacturers and packaging converters, avoiding the capital costs of constructing dedicated mills.
Mechanical and chemical extraction processes
Urban municipalities typically manage seasonal leaves through composting or incineration, both of which present financial and operational limits. Releaf established a system that purifies municipal leaves, removes contaminants, and compacts them into preserved bales storing approximately 400 kilograms of material per cubic metre. According to founder and CEO Valentyn Frechka, this treatment prevents seasonal degradation and enables long-term storage.
The stored biomass feeds two separate industrial processes. The first relies on dry mechanical handling to produce an additive that integrates directly into existing paper machinery as a filler. The second method uses chemical and thermal treatment with refining to isolate short cellulose-like fibres that match the performance profile of traditional wood pulp.
Industrial partnerships and packaging production
Rather than competing with legacy producers, Releaf supplies alternative pulp and paper grades directly to converters and existing paper mills across France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Italy tech.eu
Tech.eutech.euOpen source ↗. The company works with three of France's largest paper groups and runs a deployment trial with a municipal partner in Dortmund. In Paris, Frechka estimates that tens of thousands of tonnes of municipal leaf waste are potentially available annually.
The resulting materials have undergone testing by brands such as Uber Eats, Chanel, L'Oréal, Samsung, and Rituals. Frechka noted that municipal leaf collection costs can drop by at least half under this model, while giving manufacturers an alternative raw material that reduces pressure on virgin timber stocks.
