Stora Enso collaborates with Sulapac

Founded in 2016 by Suvi Haimi and Laura Kyllönen, Sulapac is a fully biodegradable and microplastic free material made of renewable and sustainable raw materials. Sulapac products are designed for brands that want to eliminate plastic waste and demonstrate a genuine commitment to sustainability through the use of premium ecological material. Cosmetics and jewelry packaging manufactured by Sulapac are already available for the consumers. Finnish cosmetics company Naviter has chosen Sulapac for the packaging for its new Atopik range of natural cosmetic products. Promising results from the cosmetics industry also enable long-term licensing of this technology for other uses.

Further, Mika Ihamuotila, through PowerBank Ventures, and Planvest have recently invested in the company to accelerate its internationalization and R&D.

The cooperation between Stora Enso and Sulapac began in 2017 through Stora Enso’s Accelerator program, which involves partnering with Aalto University and start-ups to ideate and innovate around renewable products. Stora Enso is the first customer to use Sulapac’s material and technology license. Through the joint development agreement, Stora Enso will licence Sulapac’s materials and technology, and begin the development of fully renewable caps and closures for liquid packages. Other areas for joint development work include food packages and packages for consumer electronics.

Annica Bresky, executive vice president of consumer board at Stora Enso, commented: ‘At Stora Enso we believe that everything that’s made with fossil-based materials today can be made from a tree tomorrow. Our future growth comes from innovations in renewable materials. With our partners, such as Sulapac, we drive these innovations to create the packaging of the future.’

Sulapac CEO Suvi Haimi added: ‘The world needs material solutions that are 100 percent biodegradable. Sulapac material has all the benefits of plastic yet it completely biodegrades without the issues of microplastic. With Stora Enso’s global expertise we can really speed up the global launch of our Sulapac material.’