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

Stora Enso will build a pilot facility for producing a lightweight, fibre-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 the oil-based polymer foams such as expanded polyethylene and expanded polystyrene, which are widely used today.

The pilot plant will be located at Stora Enso’s Fors Mill in Sweden.

The company plans for the initial application of the material, called Cellufoam, to 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.

Stora Enso’s pilot aims to evaluate and validate Cellufoam 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.