Pekilo protein plant

Waste liquor from the Jämsänkoski pulp mill had been utilised by the spirit works, and converted to energy at the incineration plant. The Pekilo plant, also using waste liquor as raw material, was completed in 1975. The Pekilo fungus used as nutrients organic matter still remaining in the solution. The resultant Pekilo protein was used in the animal feeds industry.

Pekilo plants were only built at Jämsänkoski and Mänttä sulphite cellulose factories. They were operational only for a short period, as raw material supplies dried up when the sulphite pulp mills closed. The Jämsänkoski Pekilo works employed about 20 people on average. Its machinery and equipment were sold in 1984 to Finnsugar, which began production of natrium gluconate and enzymes. In 1990, Genencor International was established, and the Jämsänkoski factory became a part of the new company.

Link: Genencor International Inc. Jämsänkoski

 Newly completed Pekilo plant in 1980. Photo Pauli Nevalainen.