Creating value through innovation
Sustainability drives a long-term direction that steers our innovation efforts.
Stora Enso aims to contribute proactively to solving climate and societal issues, looking at how positive impacts can be accelerated and delivering value to all our stakeholders.Key focus areas include:
Renewable packaging – Driven by high demand for circular packaging to serve a growing global population and consumer demand.
Low-carbon building solutions – Driven by a growing wooden buildings market with alternatives to fossil-intensive construction materials.
Bio-based innovations – Uncovering the power of trees, from breakthrough innovation to new applications in lignin, wood foams and biochemicals.
Within our businesses, innovation comes in the form of developing new and existing products as well as improving processes and supply chain efficiency and responsiveness. Stora Enso works closely with customers and partners to understand their strategies and devise solutions to support a market advantage and meet sustainability targets.
Our work is underpinned by our expertise in wood and fiber-based renewable materials, industrial processes, supply chain operations, service concepts and importantly resilient forestry.
Connecting innovation ecosystems
Across the Stora Enso group, innovation activities focus on a longer-term perspective, to address future challenges and opportunities, build knowledge and create a foundation for competitive edge aligned to our growth strategy. Work is carried out in partnerships and through engagement with universities and research institutes, in different types of programmes, consortia and bilateral projects.Stora Enso has four strategic university partnerships: Aalto University (FIN), Chalmers (SWE), Royal Institute of Technology (SWE) and Swedish University of Agricultural Science (SWE) assuring access to research that will help to shape the fiber and forest-based industries.
Additionally, we have representation in the forest-based sector Technology Platform (National Support Group, Advisory Committee and Board), Forest Industry Federation IRD specific working groups of Finland (FFIF), Swedish Forest Industries Federation (SFIF), and Bio-Based Industries Consortium.
The Combient Foundry is our interface towards the global start-up community through which we gather innovative proposals regarding digitalisation and materials.
We are also active in national, European and trade associations, and with other industry partners, to assure we are attuned to topics and trends integral to our strategy and businesses.
Recent innovations
Technological innovation shaping the future of food packaging
New technologies enable lighter packaging materials and greater resource efficiency, cutting emissions and increasing competitiveness.
Papira® – the paper recyclable packaging foam
Stora Enso’s breakthrough paper-based foam helps meet demand for shock-proof e-commerce packaging while reducing the content of plastics.
Renewable materials make renewable energy
Wood-based wind turbines generate more energy from every wind turbine and can be built much higher than a standard wind turbine.
Woodcircles – wood and the circular economy
Stora Enso is part of the consortium of woodcircles, a European innovation project that aims to increase circularity wood in construction.
Building concepts for mixed use buildings with small carbon footprints
Sylva™ by Stora Enso range of prefabricated wood-based products enables versatile, low-carbon and cost-efficient wooden buildings.
Bio-based innovations: For a more sustainable future
Stora Enso is developing new materials and new production methods to fully capture the opportunities of bio-based materials.
