Koskisen and Stora Enso develop revolutionary bio-based furniture panels
Koskisen is a Finnish wood industry company producing sawn timber and board products such as birch plywood, furniture and construction boards made from particleboard. Koskisen used Stora Enso's bio-based adhesive, Stora Enso's NeoLigno®, to replace the fossil-based resin used in furniture panels. The raw materials and adhesives for the furniture panels are made of wood and come from the production processes of both companies. This results in all raw materials for Zero Furniture Board being bio-based.
"Our experts have been working with Stora Enso to launch this new bio-based product. Koskisen is constantly looking for opportunities to optimise its CO2 emissions. One of the largest sources of CO2 emissions in our production is the one we use in our panels adhesives because they are petroleum based. The partnership with Stora Enso offers us the opportunity to solve this problem: The lignin-based NeoLigno® zero particle board is bio-based, which is the Excellent opportunity to enter the market. Bio-based zero particle board is a good example of a circular economy product.
At Koskisen, wood chips, the main raw material for panels, come from our own production. Likewise, Stora Enso obtains lignin from their Sunila pulp mill in Finland, which is associated with pulp production. Combining these two ingredients, we can bring something new and valuable to our customers. It's hard to imagine a stronger message to our customers and their customers than to offer bio-based products that have a lower environmental impact," said Jukka Pahta, CEO of Koskisen.
“We have now been working with Stora Enso for two years and we are finalizing and optimizing the production of particle-free boards in Järvelä, Finland. We aim to launch commercial products and deliveries to our customers in autumn 2022. Our customers launch furniture panels and our intention is to extend the use of NeoLigno® to plywood as well. I am very much looking forward to expanding our range of bio-based products,” he concludes.
“Consumers are very eco-conscious and aware of their health and indoor air quality. NeoLigno® is a special interior furniture ingredient that is both safe and sustainable. Air quality as well as requirements for low carbon products. For decades the glue in wooden boards was not renewable. It was very cost effective and difficult to replace with bio-based materials. Over the years we have researched different bio-based options at Koskisen and now we has been able to take a big step forward with Stora Enso's NeoLigno®. It is the most promising adhesive in bio-based gluing and the first bio-based adhesive that can be integrated into our products, ” said Eemi Valjakka, Product Manager at Koskisen.
