Sweden’s Essity Invests In New Research And Development Centre

Essity seeks to develop new methods to manufacture sustainable and user-friendly products and the new facility will cater to innovation in consumer and professional hygiene markets, it added.

Essity’s research and development centre in Kunheim, France, has filed 25 patents in recent years, including among others, the Lotus Aqua Tube (flushable toilet roll core), Lotus and Okay Sans Tube (coreless toilet paper), Tork SmartOne (dispenses one sheet at a time) and paper hygiene products based on alternative fibres.

The new research and development centre, strategically located near the current facility, will ensure that it retains its more than 80 experts and engineers working there.

Essity added that it aims to create a larger, more efficient centre equipped to address future challenges.

In addition to France, Essity operates research and development centres in Mexico, Sweden, Germany, and in the USA.

In 2023, the Cushelle maker invested SEK 1.7 billion (€140 million) in research and development.

In April, the Swedish company said it plans to increase its prices over the coming months to offset rising pulp costs, after posting first-quarter earnings above expectations.

ESM