Stora Enso to build a pilot plant for bio-based packaging foam

STORA ENSO OYJ PRESS RELEASE 26 August 2020 at 9:00 EEST

Stora Enso will build a pilot facility for producing Cellulose foam by Stora Enso, a lightweight, fiber-based foam material for protective packaging and cushioning. Bio-based foams are renewable and recyclable and can be used in packaging, for example, to replace oil-based polymer foams which are widely used today. The pilot plant will be located at Stora Enso’s Fors Mill in Sweden.

Cellulose foam by Stora Enso is a sustainable packaging material and it further increases Stora Enso’s opportunities to replace fossil-based materials with renewable and recyclable materials. The initial target application for Cellulose foam by Stora Enso will be the protective packaging of fragile products, for example in consumer electronics. Bio-based foams also have the potential to replace polymeric foams in a range of markets and applications where the demand for sustainable materials is increasing, such as sports equipment, thermal insulation in shipments and as a growth medium in soil-free farming, among other areas.

“The interest in sustainable packaging solutions is already large and continuously growing. Companies are looking for bio-based materials in order to achieve their own environmental goals for recycling, reducing plastic waste and using fossil-free materials, while maintaining high-quality packaging performance,” says Markus Mannström, Executive Vice President of Stora Enso’s Biomaterials division. “Our bio-based foam offers a renewable, recyclable and biodegradable alternative to traditional oil-based packaging foams such as expanded polyethylene (EPE) and expanded polystyrene (EPS). With this pilot, we continue to build on our long-term R&D work while introducing innovative materials to replace fossil-based ones,” Mannström says.

Stora Enso’s pilot aims to evaluate and validate Cellulose foam by Stora Enso as a packaging foam in customer tests and to further develop the production process. The new pilot plant will be part of Stora Enso’s Biomaterials division.

The design and engineering of the pilot facility will start immediately. It is estimated that the plant will be ready in the fourth quarter of 2021. Decisions about commercialisation will follow, after evaluating the results of the pilot-scale production.

Stora Enso’s Fors Mill today produces world-class light-weight paperboards for consumer packaging. The modern mill’s energy production is free from fossil-CO₂ emissions. The pilot plant investment will not impact the mill’s current production.

For further information, please contact:
Ingrid Peura
SVP Communications, Biomaterials division
tel. +358 50 307 0026

Part of the bioeconomy, Stora Enso is a leading global provider of renewable solutions in packaging, biomaterials, wooden constructions and paper. We believe that everything that is made from fossil-based materials today can be made from a tree tomorrow. Stora Enso has some 25 000 employees in over 30 countries. Our sales in 2019 were EUR 10.1 billion. Stora Enso shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki (STEAV, STERV) and Nasdaq Stockholm (STE A, STE R). In addition, the shares are traded in the USA as ADRs (SEOAY). storaenso.com

STORA ENSO OYJ

For further information, please contact:
Ingrid Peura
SVP Communications, Biomaterials division
tel. +358 50 307 0026