Finnish pulp and paper packaging company, Stora Enso, has been pretty busy in the renewable chemicals world, recently acquiring US biotechnology company, Virdia, and building a cellulosic sugar demo plant in Louisiana.

Stora Enso just announced that it will concentrate its biomaterials business development in a new Innovation Centre that will be located in the Stockholm area in Sweden. The centre, which will open during the second quarter of 2015, will host research, application, business development, and strategic marketing.

The centre will boost innovation by identifying business opportunities in the renewable materials market and linking them with leading innovation and research centres in business and academia. The centre will be staffed with Stora Enso employees currently working in Sweden, Finland and Germany. It will initially employ a little less than 60 people and is estimated to employ around 75 people by year end 2015.

The mission of Stora Enso Biomaterials is to find new, innovative ways to maximise the value extractable from wood, as well as other kind of ligno-cellulosic biomasses. The aim is to develop into a cost and performance differentiated renewable biochemical company offering drop-in and new materials into existing and new industries to Stora Enso.