Stora Enso is investing in the development of biobased protective barriers on paperboard in Sweden. The company looks to minimize the use of fossil-based materials in paperboard coating.
Stora Enso is investing in dispersion technology at its Forshaga site, to replace fossil barrier materials with solutions based on renewable wood fibre.
Paperboards used in liquid packagings, beverage cups and certain types of food packaging, for example, require a barrier which both protects the product inside and prevents the packaging from deteriorating.
Among other things, the barrier stops liquids, moisture, oxygen or grease from permeating the paperboard. A frequent solution is to coat the paperboard with a thin film, typically of plastic or a biodegradable material.
Stora Enso’s new technology, based solely on wood fibre, enables the development of protective barriers that have a smaller carbon footprint, are easier to recycle and can be industrially composted.
‘We want to introduce new materials which are compatible with food products and have a smaller carbon footprint and better recyclability,’ says Hannu Kasurinen, EVP of Stora Enso’s Packaging Materials division.
´The EUR 10 million investment at the Forshaga site near Karlstad, Sweden, is part of Stora Enso’s innovation agenda. Production of the new barrier using the technology being developed is scheduled to begin in Q2 2021.
