Any industry reliant on packaging is in dire need for a bio-based solution to safeguard products during transport, storage, and handling. And Stora Enso has great news for everyone seeking to end their fossil dependency.
Papira® by Stora Enso is a revolutionizing wood-based foam, designed to reduce plastics and waste in future packaging solutions. Derived from pulp that offers unprecedented attributes – it is renewable, biodegradable and recyclable. Allowing a circular material flow in existing waste management systems.
Tree Tech turning seedling to solution
Papira® is the result of grand visions and what we call Tree Tech: when sophisticated tech meets the protective properties of trees. The material is lightweight with excellent shock absorbing properties – with the undeniable sustainable benefit of being plastic-free, fully recyclable and biodegradable in home compost.
“Papira is one of Stora Enso’s most ambitious innovation projects. We have built everything from the ground up. Both the product and the process, creating something entirely new in a field where no similar solutions existed before – with huge potential to transform circular packaging “, says Maryam Ghanadpour, R&D Specialist at the Biomaterials Innovation Center.
The main idea behind Papira® came from a research study at The Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden (KTH) and startup company Cellutec. When Stora Enso acquired the company and it became part of biomaterials innovation, it could accelerate from a brilliant idea into a tangible solution.
Initially nanocellulose was used as the primary raw material. However, this solution had its challenges, which is why the R&D team moved to using pulp fibres, and by 2019 they had developed the formulation for Papira® as it is today.
In collaboration with a number of projects and companies, Papira® is being tested, re-evaluated and perfected in an iterative process that ensures that it will stay aligned with industry needs and demands.
From the pilot plant we have a limited production of volume and through our valuable partnerships and collaborations we can gain insights to make sure that our innovations meet industry specific challenges.
“We built our pilot plant in 2021, and it has provided valuable insights for both product and process validation. Currently we are in the process of designing the first commercial scale production system “, says Ghanadpour.
Over the past three years, key developments in R&D have included extensive testing of Papira® in valuable partnerships and collaborations. Through this we have gained a better understanding of its cushioning properties and sustainability features—such as recyclability and biodegradability—as well as optimizing the formulation to enhance its overall performance.
Papira® earns perfect score
The latest results from the Harmonized European Recyclability test (Cepi), show that Papira® achieved the highest score in all three categories—yield, visual impurity, and sheet adhesion—leading to a score of 100 out of 100!
And so far the pilot plant has received very positive reactions on the material and from the concept testing through prototypes. Papira® is already creating a well-deserved buzz, with results proving that wood fibres can phase out plastics. In a very near and bright future.
Join us and be part of the disruptive change!
