Stora Enso plans fiber foam pilot facility for eco-protective packs

27 Aug 2020 --- Stora Enso will build a pilot facility for producing Cellufoam, a lightweight, fiber-based foam material for protective packaging and cushioning. Bio-based foams are renewable and recyclable and can be used in packaging, such as replacing the oil-based polymer foams that are widely used today. The pilot plant will be located at Stora Enso’s Fors Mill in Sweden.

“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.”

Cellufoam ties into manufacturing ambitions to eliminate fossil-based materials. The initial target application for Cellufoam will be the protective packaging of fragile products, such as 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. These include sports equipment and thermal insulation in shipments and as a growth medium in soil-free farming.

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

Click to EnlargeCellufoam’s initial target application is protective packaging for fragile products, such as consumer electronics.The design and engineering of the pilot facility will start immediately. It is estimated that it will be ready in the fourth quarter of 2021. Decisions about commercialization will follow, after evaluating the results of the pilot-scale production.

Stora Enso’s Fors Mill 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.

Stora Enso NPD
Stora Enso’s innovation hub is bustling with new eco-friendly packaging concepts for the food and personal care sector. Its latest innovation is Performa Light, a renewable and recyclable paperboard for premium folding cartons for chocolate, confectionery and beauty product packaging. 

The packaging specialist also recently unveiled a kraftliner called AvantForte that enables corrugated packaging producers to expand to the rapidly emerging premium e-commerce sector.

In other moves, Kalaneuvos, and its sister company Nordic Trout, adopted Stora Enso’s fiber-based EcoFishBox. The switch to EcoFishBox enables recyclability and reduces the carbon footprint of fish farmers' packaging while also reportedly saving on costs.

Stora Enso’s also replaced Unilever’s standard PE coating with plant-based PE Green barrier coating to help reduce its use of fossil-based materials and reduce waste. With its Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Mix label, the ice cream cartons provide clear recycling instructions to consumers.

Edited by Benjamin Ferrer

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