Coated paperboard is everywhere in modern packaging, from food cartons to cups. Its polymer and barrier coatings are what make it work, but they are also what make it hard to recycle. Separating those coatings cleanly from the fibre, so both can be recovered, is one of the packaging industry's toughest circularity problems.
In early 2025, Stora Enso, one of the world's leading providers of renewable packaging and biomaterials, partnered with Combient Foundry to look for innovators who could help solve it.
Addible put forward a green-solvent-based approach to separating coatings from board fibre. It drew on our core expertise in solvent design and sustainable process chemistry.
After a detailed assessment by Combient Foundry and the Stora Enso team, Addible was shortlisted in the final two candidates from the international applicant pool. We then went through a written technical and commercial review.
Stora Enso's team was keen on the potential of our offering. They invited us to an extended session with their team to explore our results and capabilities in depth.
Being shortlisted by Stora Enso and Combient Foundry shows that Addible's green chemistry can hold its own alongside leading innovators in industrial circularity. We're continuing to develop solutions for hard-to-recycle materials, and we welcome conversations with partners facing similar challenges.
