Juha Oksanen appointed to Soilfood’s Board of Directors
Soilfood Oy has appointed M.Sc. (Eng.) Juha Oksanen as a new member of its Board of Directors. Oksanen brings strong expertise in the forest industry and bioeconomy, which is central to executing the company’s growth strategy. At the same time, long-standing board member and company co-founder Saara Kankaanrinta is stepping down from the board.
Juha Oksanen is a forest industry and bioeconomy specialist with more than 20 years of experience at Stora Enso in production, corporate responsibility, and R&D leadership roles. In May 2026 he moved to the Fiber Laboratory at Xamk, which advances sustainable development and the smart use of resources in the forest and technology industries. Oksanen will defend his doctoral thesis at Aalto University later this year on the reuse of sludge from forest industry wastewater treatment plants.
“Soilfood’s task as a Nordic operator is to refine forest industry side streams into ever higher-value circular products, and at the same time to create an economic framework in which utilising side streams strengthens the competitiveness of the entire sector. Juha Oksanen’s experience brings our board strong expertise to support the execution of our strategy,” says Chair of the Board Ilkka Herlin.
“The shift to a circular economy and the use of material flows is a necessity for the forest industry, both for competitiveness and because of regulation. As a model, the circular economy is familiar to industry, but there is room to expand and further develop the use of side streams. Soilfood is a genuinely innovative company, and I look forward to bringing my own experience to support this work,” says Oksanen.
Saara Kankaanrinta is stepping down from the board but continues as a shareholder, and through that will remain involved in developing the company’s operations. Following the change, Soilfood’s board consists of Chair Ilkka Herlin and members Juuso Joona, Juho Rönni, Jori Sahlsten, Mikko Kuitunen, and Juha Oksanen.
More information:
Ilkka Herlin
Chair of the Board
Soilfood
ilkka.herlin@wipunen.fi
Juha Oksanen
Member of the Board
juha.oksanen@xamk.fi
Soilfood Group is a Nordic circular economy company that refines industrial side streams into fertilisers and soil improvers for agriculture and into products for industry. Founded in 2015, the company has refined over 2 million tonnes of side streams for use as material. Soilfood’s solutions are used widely in Finland and Sweden.