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Circularity of materials is a key success factor measuring the Stora Enso's capability to navigate sustainable profitable growth within the planetary boundaries. We address this in three dimensions: internal materials circularity and beneficial use of process residuals, innovative product design for recyclable products, and collaborations in the wider value chain to improve infrastructure and to make sure that the market is shaped for recycling of the our materials. Our goal is to offer products that are 100% technically recyclable by 2030. By the end of 2022, 94% of our products were recyclable.
At Stora Enso, we’re pioneering the journey to fiber-based packaging that’s biodegradable, easy to recycle, and circular by design. But designing great products and solutions that are all of those things is one thing. Making sure they actually end up where they belong (and not where they don’t) is another.
In addition to striving to improve the circularity of our own production and recyclability of products, Stora Enso engages across the value chain for partnership collaboration and recycling investments. We also cooperate with local authorities and waste management companies to increase the facilities available and to further promote recycling in society.
We strive to improve resource efficiency – to make more with less. This benefits our business, as well as the environment and society. The environmental work at our mills, including water and energy management and resource efficiency, is supported by third-party-certified environmental management systems. All Stora Enso’s sawmills, corrugated packaging units, and board, pulp and paper mills are certified to the ISO 14001 environmental management system. By the end of 2022, 97% of the Group’s energy consumption was certified to the ISO 50001 energy management system standard (94% in 2021).
Our production processes generate various residuals and wastes, including ash, black liquor, sawdust, bark, and wastewater treatment sludge. Many of these materials are used in our internal bioenergy generation and pulp production, or supplied to our partners for uses such as agriculture, and land or road construction.
In 2022, the utilisation rate for residuals and by-products across the group was 99%, including both internal and external use.
For us, the bottom line is that we need to replace fossil-heavy materials with renewable and recyclable options. To create the most impact, recyclability must be coupled with renewability. Wood fibers offer a best-of-both-worlds solution to achieve this.
A great example is Papira by Stora Enso: a protective mono-material for packaging that is renewable, biodegradable, and fully recyclable in regular paper and board flows. It is a patented innovation, designed from the start to be part of existing circular material flows in packaging waste management systems. It is made from pulp fibers and is lightweight and shock absorbent, making it ideal for protective packaging applications.
There are plenty of opportunities to improve packaging recyclability via fiber-based material, and consumer behavior and existing recycling infrastructure fully support this. With our long history in renewable materials, our experience in innovating new solutions from renewable materials, and our deep partnerships across the value chain, we are uniquely positioned to take the lead in this transformation. In partnerships throughout our value chains and with circular, bio-based innovations, we can revolutionise packaging, inside and out.
