PPI Award
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Södra wins PPI award for Research Achievement of the Year.
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Södra wins PPI award for Research Achievement of the Year
Södra Cell is delighted to announce that Joakim Nygren was awarded the title of Research Achievement of the Year at the prestigious PPI Awards ceremony in Munich on 28 October.
The award recognises a talented individual who has excelled in the field of research to benefit the pulp and paper industry. Candidates included research stations and organisations from around the world.
Nygren won the award for his work with Parupu, a fully renewable and biodegradable childrens chair. The chair was launched to great acclaim at the Milan Furniture Fair earlier this year, but it is only the start of Nygren's work into innovative ideas for pulp.
The chair is made from DuraPulp, a new patented pulp from Södra with exciting potential to take cellulose into a whole new range of applications. Durapulp is a blend of woodpulp mixed with a corn-based polymer. The result has all the renewable and recyclable benefits of woodpulp but with a strength more akin to plastic.
Nygren is now heading up Södra's PulpLabs, an interactive hub of new ideas to see where pulp can move to next, including NanoPulp and FoamPulp (see www.sodrapulplabs.com to find out more).
"Before this project started, we admitted to ourselves that if we could make a chair from DuraPulp, we could do almost anything" Nygren said. "The chair is done. Now it's time for almost anything."
Commenting on the award, PPI's editor Mark Rushton said: "We received a high level of entries for the research award and it was a difficult choice to make given the sheer amount of research and innovation going on in the industry at the moment. This winning submission represents a top draw research achievement by a candidate who is looking forward to future opportunities for pulp and paper manufacturers."
