Stora Enso Teams-up with Novapor in Cellulose Foam Packaging Pilot Project

Stora Enso has teamed-up with Novapor in a pilot project featuring Stora Enso’s cellulose foam packaging material Papira®.

Based in Germany, Novapor, is involved with the development and production of innovative packaging made of foam, corrugated cardboard, recycled foam, protective cases and containers.

According to Stora Enso, Københavns Møbelsnedkeri, a Copenhagen-based manufacturer of handmade furniture, needed a smart and sustainable packaging solution to protect their exclusive bathroom mirrors.

Traditionally, they would have used polyethylene foam. But the client wanted to reduce their carbon footprint and offer a recyclable solution when delivering products to their customers — preferably a mono-material alternative based on wood fibres to make the entire packaging recyclable in paper and boards streams.

“Transitioning to wood fibre-based solutions is an important next step in packaging and mono-material packaging made entirely of cardboard and paper, rather than plastic combinations, is highly relevant for our client,” said Thomas Søgaard Head of Novapor Nordic.

“There’s no dust or static electricity when cutting and handling Papira, which is a real advantage,” Søgaard explained. “The material properties are excellent. But it’s important to realise that switching from fossil-based PU or PE to paper fibre never can be a direct swap — you need to redesign the packaging to suit the unique characteristics of cellulose foam. Another advantage is that it works with water-based glue instead of hot glue, making the solution even more sustainable.”

Novapor specializes in conversion using water jet cutting machines. Converting paper-based foam materials required process adaptation, which Novapor has successfully resolved to attend to their customer needs.

Juulia Kuhlman, Director Business Development at Stora Enso Biofoams, added, “The rules and regulations on waste management are strict, but they will be even stricter come 2030. Providing the market with a foam that can be recycled in your regular paper and cardboard stream is a really important benefit.”