To support the shift to renewable and recyclable materials in shopping and takeaway bags, Stora Enso launches CarrEco Brown™. Made from 100% fresh fibers, the material has high strength and tear resistance properties and is also safe for direct food contact. By offering renewable, fiber-based materials suited for paper bags, Stora Enso accelerates the shift away from plastic. Stora Enso now expands its paper bag materials portfolio with CarrEco Brown, a new unbleached and uncoated board that is fully recyclable. Through its unique three-layer structure, CarrEco Brown offers exceptional strength properties suitable for strong shopping bags. The material is also safe for direct food contact and contains only FDA-compliant chemicals which makes it ideal for takeaway food and groceries. “Unbleached paper bags are a good fit with the preferences of today’s eco-conscious consumers. We are well-positioned to meet the growing demand for paper bags, especially in trending end-use areas such as takeaway food. Our newest material CarrEco Brown can help our customers seize these growth opportunities in a sustainable way,” says Oscar Duarte, Business Segment Director, Kraftliners at Stora Enso Packaging Materials.

Metsä Group is expanding the operations of its innovation company Metsä Spring that was established in June 2018. So far, Metsä Spring has been mainly involved in development activities outside the current business areas of Metsä Group. From now on, it will also support research and development related to Metsä Group’s current business areas. Research and development cooperation will be increased both within Metsä Group and with different research institutions and stakeholders. A wider innovation ecosystem plays a central role in the Metsä Group model. With this change, the company aims to strengthen its position even further in different networks and carry out research and development cooperation actively with various partners. “Metsä Group has to be able to continuously renew itself. We improve Metsä Group’s readiness to react to a changing operating environment and be better positioned in the forefront of development. We must find new development areas that promote sustainable bioeconomy. At the same time, we must be able to develop our current products so that they can be used for a wider range of end uses,” says Ilkka Hämälä, President and CEO of Metsä Group.

Along with members of the community, provincial and federal elected representatives, staff at Meadow Lake Mechanical Pulp mill (MLMP) and Paper Excellence Canada today celebrated 30 years of the pulp mill being in operation. The mill is located just east of Meadow Lake and has been operational since 1992. MLMP was the first mill Paper Excellence Canada acquired in 2007. The mill employs over 200 full-time employees, creates approximately 1,300 direct and indirect jobs, and creates approximately $470 million in economic activity annually. MLMP produces approximately 400,000 tonnes of bleached chemi-thermal mechanical pulp (BCTMP) annually. BCTMP is used to make a variety of products from tissue and paper towel to food and board packaging.