(Photo: Stora Enso’s Cellufoam. Credit: Stora Enso on Facebook)[/caption] Finnish pulp and paper manufacturer Stora Enso plans to build a pilot plant to produce their fiber-based foam material for protective packaging and cushioning.
Located at their Fors Mill in Sweden, the new facility will make Stora Enso’s Cellufoam product, which the company says is intended to replace the oil-based polymer foams that continue to be widely used for packaging.
“Bio-based foams are renewable and recyclable,” the company said. These materials could ultimately replace polymeric foams in applications that include sports equipment, thermal insulation for shipments, and in soil-free farming as a growth medium, Stora Enso added.
The company says that its pilot aims to evaluate and validate Cellufoam through consumer tests on the packaging foam, and as a way to develop the production process. Design and engineering on the facility has already started, and Stora Enso expects it to be finished in the fourth quarter of 2021. Following pilot-scale production, the company intends to make decisions about commercialization.
Fors Mill, which currently produces lightweight paperboards for consumer packaging, has energy production that’s free from fossil-based carbon dioxide emissions, the company said. Once completed, the pilot plant should not affect the mill’s current production, according to Stora Enso.
The manufacturer sees a competitive advantage in ramping up production of bio-based foam. “The interest in sustainable packaging solutions is already large and continuously growing,” said Markus Mannström, executive vice president of Stora Enso’s Biomaterials division. “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.”
Regulations worldwide intended to phase out expanded polystyrene foam and other petroleum-based foams have put pressure on companies in many sectors to identify sustainable alternatives.
Speaking to Environment + Energy Leader earlier this year, Taco Bell’s manager of global nutrition and sustainability Missy Schaaphok explained that her team developed their own tracking system to keep an eye on regulations.
“When it comes to the packaging itself, consider all options,” she advised fellow executives. “This change in the industry and in the environment is forcing us to rethink things in a way we never have before. It’s actually a great opportunity.”
