below please find a selection of the latest news from the world of pulp and paper.

ipw news

Between April 2018 and May 2019, Sofidel bought and started – for some of its US-based plants – four tissue paper converting lines manufactured by Gambini. Now, four more lines are going to join those first four, thus confirming Sofidel’s appreciation of Gambini’s technical quality and its trust in them as technological partners: a collaboration which has been binding for years these two companies, both established and proudly kept in Lucca, Italy.

International technology Group ANDRITZ has received an order from BillerudKorsnäs, Sweden, to supply key process equipment to complement the main brown stock washing system preceding the side line for their board machine at the Gruvön mill, Sweden.

Plastic drinking straws are one of the single-use plastic products that will be banned as the result of a European directive (2019/904) from mid-2021. Paper straws are a sustainable alternative.

The Södra Foundation for Research, Development and Education has decided to grant an additional SEK 6.8 million to 13 research projects linked to forestry and the forest industry. “Investing in research is crucial to facilitating the transition of society, regardless of whether we are in a boom or a slump, or in a period of pandemic and uncertainty in the market. It is on the basis of this insight that we have decided to contribute additional funds,” said Göran Örlander, Chairman of the Foundation.

ABB has been selected by Progroup - a European containerboard and corrugated board manufacturers - to supply and install its latest L&W Autoline automated paper testing solution for a new 750,000 tonne-capacity PM3 paper machine at Progroup’s third ultra-modern mill in Sandersdorf-Brehna, Germany.

In the world of bulk powdered goods such as building materials, chemicals and foodstuffs, different supply chains place differing demands on packaging. Additionally, the machinery used across the world to produce and fill the packaging consists of many different technologies, brands and models. This has resulted in the development and use of a variety of packaging solutions and processes. Therefore BillerudKorsnäs and Haver & Boecker have developed a set of recommendations called the Sack Packaging Norms.

In the UK new recommendations allow paperboard packaging to contain up to 15 per cent plastic and still be considered recyclable. One item of such packaging can have 80 per cent less climate impact compared with the corresponding all-plastic packaging.

Voith’s new refurbishment service for screw presses enables the full restoration of screw performance and reduces downtimes by up to 20 percent compared to conventional repair methods. With SmartGrinder, the new refurbishment service, customers can restore original screw performance and achieve an optimum balance between operating costs and technological performance – a decisive factor for paper quality and cost efficiency in paper production.

bio-fibre news

Cepi, the Confederation of European Paper Industries, presented its new study on the “Climate effect of the forest-based sector in the European Union” on occasion of a public webinar with the participation of the European Commission Directorate for Agriculture (DG AGRI).

Fortum and Metsä Group join forces with Business Finland to create a world-class R&D programme with pulp fibre from renewable and sustainable sources as its node. The 4-year joint R&D programme, called ExpandFibre, aims to develop ground-breaking technologies and smart business concepts that are required to convert straw and wood pulp fibre into novel bioproducts, such as textile fibres. The R&D programme has been granted EUR 20 million from Business Finland.

The paper recycling industry is little more than 20 weeks away from a turning point. China has established itself over recent years as the dominant export outlet for recovered fibre surpluses arising in other parts of the world, but the country will be closing its doors from the end of this year and so final shipments will be need to leave Europe, for example, as early as mid-November.

PulPaper, an international event of the forest industry, to be held in Helsinki, Finland, next spring, will highlight the innovations and future opportunities of the bioeconomy. The event, to be held on the theme of “Building tomorrow’s bioeconomy”, emphasises the diversity of the forest bioeconomy and presents concrete applications and products. PulPaper will be held from 27 to 29 April 2021 at Messukeskus in Helsinki.