Green Solutions
Lineo by Stora Enso, launched earlier this year, has won ‘Best Product Innovation’ at the ICIS Innovation Awards 2018. ICIS, Independent Chemical Information Service, is the world's largest petrochemical market information provider. Stora Enso was shortlisted in its award category alongside other industry leaders. The judges recognised the impressive potential of Stora Enso’s versatile and renewable bio based solution made from lignin, one of the main building blocks of a tree.
Lineo can be used in a range of applications for which fossil based materials are currently used. It is a renewable replacement for oil based phenolic materials, which are used in resins for adhesives, eg in plywood, oriented strand board (OSB), laminated veneer lumber (LVL), paper lamination and insulation material. In the future, Lineo can be developed into other types of binders and also used in carbon fibre and energy storage applications. Stora Enso has been producing lignin industrially at its Sunila Mill in Finland since 2015 and the mill has the capacity to produce 50,000 tonnes of lignin per year – making Stora Enso the largest kraft lignin producer in the world. Markus Mannström, executive vice president of the Stora Enso Biomaterials division, said: ‘We have received an overwhelmingly positive response from stakeholders since launching Lineo and we are delighted it has been recognised as an innovative solution by top chemical industry representatives. It is another key renewable solution provided by Stora Enso, we continue to believe that: ‘Everything made from fossil based materials today, can be made from a tree tomorrow’.’
