Stora Enso is set to invest €14 million building a new specialist plant at the Sunila Mill in Kotka.
The new facility will make it easier to handle lignin products - a type of plant-based polymer that is a source of renewable carbon used in a number of industries including car manufacturing, construction and pharmaceuticals.
Currently the lignin produced at the Kotka plant is delivered as a dusty powder or wet lignin. However in future the granulated product can be used as a source of biocarbon in energy storage systems such as batteries for electric vehicles, as bio-based binders in plywood and as material for carbon fiber.
“This investment helps us in providing our customers with a more efficient way of handling dry lignin and delivering it in bulk containers” explains Markus Mannström, Stora Enso’s Executive Vice President of Biomaterials.
“In addition to reducing both packaging and transportation costs, packing granulated lignin will be easier and faster compared to the dry powder used today, which requires special equipment” he adds.
Construction of the new facility will begin at the start of summer 2021 and should be completed about a year later.
The Sunila Mill was established back in 1938 and today employs more than 150 people
