The Stora Enso Story – A Magical Tale of Trees and Forests
by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) … In today’s Digest, we talk about Stora Enso’s story – the renewable materials company that develops and produces wood and biomass based solutions for a range of industries and applications globally – what they have done recently that shouts innovation from the tree tops, what their plans are for the future, and what this could mean for the biomass industry as a whole.
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Just last week, Stora Enso chose six startups to join its second Accelerator Programme, a joint startup initiative organised by Stora Enso, Aalto University Developing Entrepreneurship (Aalto ENT) and Vertical Accelerator. So yes, it looks like one tree can in fact impact other trees to make a magical forest.
The Accelerator program provides an exceptional opportunity for disruptive startups and Stora Enso to actively ideate and innovate new solutions. This year’s program focuses specifically on the circular economy, especially in regard to circular solutions, raw material management, packaging, separation and sorting, and energy.
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Things are looking up if 2018 is any indication of a more sustainable biomass industry thanks to what Stora Enso is doing. As reported in the Digest in December 2018, Stora Enso and the Forest Stewardship Council signed an international partnership agreement establishing a long-term strategic collaboration to develop and promote sustainable forestry. The new partnership agreement aims to increase FSC certification, especially among small- and medium-sized private forest owners in the Nordics, Baltics, and across Europe. The aim is to increase the FSC certified wood supply.
In October 2018, the Digest reported that Stora Enso’s lignin won ‘Best Product Innovation’ at the ICIS Innovation Awards. Lineo, which was launched in early 2018 and is made from lignin, can be used in a range of applications for which fossil-based materials are currently used.
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Stora Enso has even launched wood-based biocomposites, DuraSense, as renewable replacement for plastic, as reported in NUU in May 2018. The DuraSense granules are a combination of natural wood fibers, polymers and additives offering the mouldability of plastic with the sustainability and workability of wood. READ MORE