AFRY to be engineering partner in Stora Enso’s renewable packaging project in Oulu, Finland

The rapid growth of the renewable packaging sector continues due to demographic changes and overall long-term economic growth, while the increasing focus on sustainability, particularly in the consumer goods industry, is contributing to wider adoption of fibre-based packaging solutions.

AFRY will support Stora Enso, a leading global provider of renewable solutions in packaging, biomaterials, wooden construction, and paper, as the company has decided to invest approximately EUR 1 billion to meet the growing market demand by converting the remaining idle paper machine at its Oulu site in Finland into a high-volume consumer board production line. The total annual capacity will be 750,000 tonnes of folding box board (FBB) and coated unbleached kraft (CUK). The converted machine is estimated to start the production in early 2025.

AFRY’s assignment includes detail engineering services for Balance of Plant (BoP), a new wood handling line, new thermomechanical pulp line (BCTMP) and evaporation plants, modifications to the existing recovery boiler and causticizing, a new biofuel boiler and fuel handling, a new Non-Condensable Gas (NCG) boiler, and the rebuild of an on-site storage and conversion. The value of the order for AFRY has not been disclosed.

"We are honoured to partner with Stora Enso in this significant conversion project for renewable consumer packaging materials. AFRY has extensive experience in engineering and implementing large-scale conversion projects, which will support Stora Enso in demanding time scheduling and project management. Stora Enso and AFRY have co-operated for more than 60 years and AFRY has been supporting Stora Enso in many of their major investments as well as during the daily operations locally," says Kalle Rasinmäki, AFRY's Head of Process Industries in Finland.