HELSINKI -- Stora Enso announced that it has officially opened its Innovation Centre for packaging located at the Group's head office in Helsinki.

The purpose of the centre is to create a venue for innovation and R&D work, where Stora Enso together with customers and other stakeholders can develop innovative and sustainable packaging concepts. The centre offers, among other things, a packaging design lab, presentation areas with advanced touch screen technology and virtual reality retail technology.

The Innovation Centre is primarily targeted towards customers, including converters and manufacturers, brand owners and retailers. The objective is to create customer value through strategic packaging that can drive sales, while also reducing environmental impact and total cost.

"Through our new innovation centre we are able to liaise with our customers in a unique way and together design the packaging solutions of tomorrow," says Stora Enso CEO Karl-Henrik Sundström. "Sustainability is the backbone of Stora Enso's business and our dedication to renewable materials will be highly influential in how we collaborate with customers in the centre."

In addition to supporting design and R&D, the centre acts as a show room for new products, prototypes and designs related to packaging innovation. Moreover, it serves as an incubator hub that facilitates collaboration with customers, startups and other industry stakeholders in order to commercialise new packaging concepts and design trends.