The new facility, which will be constructed at Sunila Mill, will help to efficiently handle dry lignin and deliver it in bulk containers
Stora Enso’s Sunila Mill in Finland. (Credit: Stora Enso)
Pulp and paper products manufacturer Stora Enso is set to construct a lignin granulation and packing plant at its Sunila Mill in Finland that will entail an investment of €14m.
The new facility will help the company to better support its customers in handling dry lignin efficiently and delivering it in bulk containers.
Granulated lignin can be easily and quickly packaged compared to dry powder, as well as helps to reduce both packaging and transportation costs.
Lineo by Stora Enso, the lignin produced as a dusty powder or wet lignin, can be used as a phenol replacement in adhesives.
It can also be used to replace bitumen as a bio-based natural binder in asphalt, as well as in bioplastics.
Stora Enso stated that lignin can also be used as a source of biocarbon in energy storage systems such as batteries for electric vehicles, bio-based binders in plywood and material for carbon fibre in the future.
The granulated form of lignin facilitates efficient handling and packing of the product. It also helps to further strengthen the company’s capabilities in replacing fossil-based raw materials.
Stora Enso is planning to commence construction on the new facility by the end of the second quarter of 2021 and aims to complete in the second quarter of 2022.
Since 2015, the company has been producing lignin industrially at its Sunila Mill. The facility has the annual production capacity of 50, 000 tonnes.
In November this year, Stora Enso collaborated with Tetra Pak to conduct a feasibility study for the construction of a new recycling line for used beverage cartons (UBC) at Stora Enso’s Ostrołęka mill in Poland.