Current issue
Our Partners
Biofibre News
Södra begins journey towards premium strength, sustainable agro-enhanced softwood pulp
In line with Södras strategy to support a more circular, sustainable society, to strive for resource efficiency and to maximise the use of their members’ wood while adding value for customers, Södra is investigating the possibilities for a ground-breaking new pulp which will combine wood from Södra’s sustainably managed forests in southern Sweden with agricultural residue from sources close to our pulp mills.
Andritz to supply two pressurized refining systems to Steves & Sons, Inc., USA
Andritz has received an order from Steves & Sons, Inc. to supply two pressurized refining systems to Steves’ new mill in Athens, Georgia, United States. Start-up will take place in 2024. The state-of-the-art pressurized refining systems with innovative C-feeder in conjunction with HC (high-consistency) refining will process a mixture of hardwood and softwood chips for production of high-quality fibers for molded door skins.
Valmet to deliver a chip washing and defibrator system to Arauco in Mexico
Valmet will deliver a new refiner with chip washer capacity of 28 ton/h to Arauco’s new MDF plant located in Zitácuaro, Mexico. The start-up of the system is planned for the last quarter of 2024. The order was included in Valmet’s orders received of the first quarter 2023. The value of the order will not be disclosed.
Södra celebrates anniversary of a world first for Liquid Forest certification
“Our tall oil, turpentine and biomethanol were the first in the world at commercial scale to be certified to both FSC® (FSC-C006947) and PEFC (PEFC/05-35-48), offering peace of mind as an environmentally-conscious choice. It’s almost a year now since we gained certification. It’s a great way for customers to understand that these are products from sustainably-managed forests,” says Viktor Odenbrink, Sales Director, Södra Bioproducts.
Andritz starts up new needleloom at Foss Floors
International technology group Andritz has successfully started up the new velour loom it delivered to Foss Floors, Rome, United States (GA). The loom produces flooring from recycled plastic for a wide range of applications. Start-up took place in early 2023. The new 5.3 m loom, type SDV, will enable Foss Floors to meet the growing customer demand for high-quality products. Every year Foss reuses over 18 million kg (40 million pounds) of plastic to make its floor coverings, which translates into 2 billion plastic bottles recycled into carpet.
Cepi Update
Pulp and paper producers take stock of their investments in climate action
Since 2005, the CO2 emissions of the pulp and paper sector have been reduced by 36% and by substituting fossil-based products, the European forest-based industries lower the EU’s total emissions by an estimated 410 Mt CO2 per year. The equivalent of taking 85 million cars – or the entire fleet of vehicles registered in Germany and Italy – off the road. The 4th edition of Reinvest2050 offers a glimpse of how that is done, through a collection of testimonies from the movers and shakers in pulp and paper.
SCA's forest holdings in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania
SCA owns around 71,000 hectares of land in the Baltics, of which approximately 59,000 hectares is forest land. The forest holding is vital for supplying SCA’s industries with raw materials and increasing SCA’s climate benefit. “We manage the forests to ensure that they grow well. This means that they bind large amounts of carbon dioxide and provide substantial amounts of raw materials for renewable products, which replace products with a larger carbon footprint,” says Jonas Mårtensson, Director SCA Forest.
Pulp & Beyond - the rebirth of a Nordic icon
The traditional PulPaper event has been fully redesigned. The next generation for PulPaper, Pulp & Beyond 2024 is the leading forum, bringing together the latest forest-based bioeconomy innovations, products, services and technologies as well as key people throughout the ecosystem. It offers new encounters, inspiration, networking and business possibilities for marketing global and sustainable solutions. The event provides the widest available showcase on the latest trends, and supports learning, employer branding and competence development. The new event format will have a strong focus on sustainability, efficiency and functionality. Pulp & Beyond will be arranged on 10-11 April 2024 at Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre in Finland.
Novafiber starts up textile recycling and airlay lines from Andritz at its mill in Palín, Guatemala
International technology group Andritz has delivered, installed, and commissioned a mechanical textile recycling line and an airlay line at Novafiber’s nonwovens production mill in Palín, Guatemala. Both lines have been successfully operating since December 2022.
AFRY project partner in TreeToTextile sustainable textile fibre demo plant in Sweden
TreeToTextile, owned by H&M Group, Inter IKEA Group, Stora Enso, and LSCS Invest, invested €35 million in constructing a textile fiber process technology demonstration plant in Sweden. AFRY supported TreeToTextile throughout the project in the development and implementation phases from 2016-2022. The demonstration plant is now in the start-up phase.
Showcasing proven industrial-scale MFC breakthroughs for paper, packaging, and more
FiberLean.com — an entirely new website featuring innovative, productive, and game-changing advantages from their scalable MFC (micro-fibrillated cellulose) Modules — is now live. The site showcases a portfolio of unique formulations, equipment, and know-how to:
- Convert brown board grades to White Top “without spending millions”.
- Gain fibre flexibility, including high performance from cheaper recycled furnish.
- Substitute MFC for starch and synthetic additives.
- Make entirely new grades with modest process changes.
(By Martin Koepenick, Fred Naves and Elizabeth Wood.)
AFRY to be engineering partner in Stora Enso’s renewable packaging project in Oulu, Finland
Stora Enso Oyj and AFRY have agreed an engineering assignment for converting a decommissioned paper machine into a consumer board production line at the company’s mill in Oulu, Finland. The rapid growth of the renewable packaging sector continues due to demographic changes and overall long-term economic growth, while the increasing focus on sustainability, particularly in the consumer goods industry, is contributing to wider adoption of fibre-based packaging solutions.
