TEXT MAISA KANTOLA PICTURES ECOPULP
Kenneth Sundberg, member of Chemigate’s Board.
A greener al
polystyren
Kenneth Sundberg
Board work served with a fresh spin Chemigate wanted someone with a fresh external view to join the Board. An ideal board member would know the business operations well enough to be able to exchange ideas about them. This person should also possess such a high level of professionalism that they could play hardball, when coming across a bad idea. Kenneth Sundberg is such a person. To quote R.E.M., ‘What’s the frequency, Kenneth?’ Please introduce yourself. “When I’m not working on any Board related matters, I work with a number of different companies in a consultative position. I have worked in research and development, commercialisation, and management at various companies. When measured in terms of the number of personnel, the sizes of the companies have varied between three and 100.000. I have a Master of Science degree in engineering, and I am a Doctor of Technology and a docent in the Faculty of Chemical Engineering, laboratory of Forest Products Chemistry, in Åbo Akademi. A few years ago, I completed the Executive MBA degree in Turku School of Economics.”
14 CHEMIGATE THE BRIDGE 2019
What is the best part of your work? “Interaction with smart people, teamwork, and collective success.”
Tell us something about yourself that our readers might not know. “I play tennis whenever I have time for it. A few years back, I was 26th on the world ranking list in the doubles series of 50-year-olds.”
– US FINNS must keep believing in the power of Finnish raw materials and resources. The slogan “Finland lives by its forests” is by no means outdated, asserts Ari Henttonen, the CEO of Ecopulp Finland Oy. Ecopulp was established in 2009 in Koria, Kouvola, and it develops, designs, and produces moulded pulp products. The company’s main products include technical inner packages whose primary raw material is typically recycled newspaper. The Ecopulp packages, which are manufactured using the ‘egg carton technique’, are always extremely environmentally friendly due to their renewable raw material and because they are biodegradable and fully recyclable.
Small carbon footprint – We aim to offer a greener alternative to expanded polystyrene. The overall carbon footprint related to the manufacture of recycled fibre products is smaller than the carbon footprint of any other material used for similar purposes. Ecopulp’s main clients operate in the Finnish manufacturing industry. For instance, ABB, Oras, Nordic Lights, and Ge-