Pulp & Beyond 2024 Conference Program Released

Published: December 15, 2023

The Pulp & Beyond Conference will take place Tuesday, April 9, 2024 as part of the leading international forest industry event, Pulp & Beyond 2024, which runs from Wednesday to Thursday, April 10-11, 2024 at the Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre. Friday, April 12, there will also be excursions for professionals to Central Finland and for university students to Stockholm.

The opening panel discussion will feature Michael Carus, the founder and CEO of Nova-Institute, discussing the role of wood in the renewable carbon concept. Tiina Pursula, SVP Sustainability, Division Packaging Materials, Stora Enso, will provide insights from the perspective of forest companies on responsibility, and Lyndsey Parette, Nestlé Nespresso's Nordic Environmental Sustainability Manager, will share a brand owner company’s perspective on global responsibility and the forest industry’s role therein. The panel will be moderated by Andre Noël Chaker.

After the opening, the conference program will be divided into three tracks including presentations from top experts. Each track will feature multiple presentations from three different perspectives or themes.

Innovative Wood-based Products, Carbon Zone Future Mills and Control Systems

The track dedicated to innovative wood-based products includes three themes. The "New Cellulose-based Textiles Changing the Fashion Business" theme explores the challenges, opportunities and the future of cellulose-based textile fibers, how consumers perceive the differences between wood fibers versus recycled plastic, the case TreeToTextile on new biodegradable fibers with responsible resource stewardship, and projects for developing new textile products with partners.

The theme "Creating New Innovative Bioproducts from Wood and Process Side Streams" discusses wood as a versatile raw material bank with vast opportunities, long-term lignin application development, sustainable battery materials from lignin, and microfibrillated cellulose.

The theme "Solving Global Challenges with Renewable Packaging Materials and Barrier Products" covers the future of packaging in light of EU PPWR, developing sustainable cushioning product innovations with foam-laid forming technology, the re-thinking of paper packaging, and the latest developments in cellulose-based food packaging.

The track Carbon Zero Future Mills is approached through three themes. Under the theme "Breakthrough Energy Solutions in the Forest Industry," topics include hydrogen as gamechanger in energy markets, the case of Kemi bioproduct mill – how to take steps toward fossil-free pulp mills, breakthrough energy solutions in the forest industry, and improving energy efficiency through digitalization as well as the future of electrification of European industries and its implications on the forest industry.

The theme "On the Path Towards World-Class Process Safety" includes discussions on the implementation of process safety management systems from the mill perspective, process safety and production of chemicals, optimizing the mill site development by fitting new processes into old mill sites, and the developing of world-class process safety and enhanced energy efficiency with digitalization.

The theme "Developing Material Efficiency in Future Carbon Zero Mills" highlights stepping into a new level in smart material usage with the Emission Free Pulping project, carbon zero future for pulp, paper, and board, smart utilization of carbon dioxide at pulp mills, and radical reduction of water usage in pulp making.

Learn more at www.pulpandbeyond.com.