Charles was shown innovative items from a prototype wheelie luggage case made from cellulose, food packaging based on wood pulp and casts for broken limbs derived from wood and biodegradable polymer.
The event was staged at the Garrison Chapel in central London and featured products from Finnish firms and innovators, and was a collaboration between the Finnish Forest Association and two organisations founded by Charles – the Circular Bioeconomy Alliance and King’s Foundation.
Charles, Finland’s president Alexander Stubb, and his wife Suzanne Innes-Stubbat (Alberto Pezzali/PA)
The head of state could not resist tapping the large bath made from wood chips and resin when he chatted to Matti Lehtipuu, chairman of the firm Woodio that created the product.
After looking at the bath for a few minutes, Charles said “fantastic” and said “if you look at it, it could be ceramic”.
Charles was joined by the president of Finland, Alexander Stubb, and first lady Suzanne Innes-Stubb – who were both knowledgeable about many of the exhibits and Mr Stubb joked about the bath, telling the King: “I’m sure they could send you a special one.”
Charles touches a dress made from birch-based fibres (Alberto Pezzali/PA)
The King’s cousin, Earl of Snowdon, greeted Charles with a kiss on both cheeks, the normal welcome between royal men, as students from a programme run by his King’s Foundation’s Snowdon School of Furniture exhibited pieces made from traditional British wood like oak and ash.
Marc Palahí, chief executive officer of the Circular Bioeconomy Alliance, said after the visit: “For the last 100 years, we have been living under a fossil based economy – energy, fertiliser, pesticides everything is made from petroleum.
“Here what we are showing is that a new world, a new economy is possible, relying on the power of nature.”