In December 2019, the European Commission presented its ambitious Green Deal roadmap, a comprehensive strategy aimed at putting Europe on the right track for climate neutrality in 2050 while encouraging sustainable economic growth.

In this strategy, the role of consumers is clearly recognized: this transition won’t happen without them. However, green washing is a threat to their involvement: they won’t be able to make more sustainable choices if they don’t receive reliable, comparable and verifiable information.

For that reason, the European Commission has decided to leverage the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) method to distinguish between valid green claims and green washing.

We are proud to announce today that Cepi together with its member companies has developed an LCA tool fully based on the Intermediate Paper Product PEF Category Rules (PEFCR).

The PEF tool enables any Cepi member company to calculate product LCAs and validate their green claims within the Green Deal context. The tool has been designed for both LCA experts as well as users less familiar with the LCA methodologies. Having access to an LCA tool makes it significantly easier for small and medium size enterprises to compute complex Product Environmental Footprints for their products.

The foundations of the PEF work were established in 2013, the idea was to develop a harmonized method to evaluate the environmental friendliness of products, focusing on their carbon footprint and related GHG emissions.

The initiative gave way to two projects: Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) and Organisation Environmental Footprint (OEF) with the objective of developing a harmonized environmental footprinting methodology that can accommodate a broader suite of relevant environmental performance criteria.

The European Paper Industry participated to the EU PEF Pilot project in 2011 and again in 2013-2018: we were one of the 15 sectors that delivered PEF Category Rules. The Intermediate Paper Product PEFCR is the most complete of any EU PEF Pilot Category Rules allowing in-depth primary production data be used for the results and enabling understanding of improvements in time as well as improvement areas. The Intermediate Paper Product PEFCR is a detailed LCA calculation method for paper that will be converted into finalised products such as packaging, print and tissue.

The tool that Cepi is launching today has been developed in collaboration with Green Delta, the partner with whom the Intermediate Paper Product PEFCR Development Group tested the remodeling of the Category Rules. The tool strictly follows the PEFCR and uses the secondary datasets dedicated for PEF while being the only available tool to deliver EU PEFCR compliant results. The tool has been developed to be of use for small and mid-size enterprises in mind and is available to all Cepi members free of charge.

There are still areas of improvement for both the industry and the PEF methodology. These include:

• Improved and up-to-date datasets for all paper products
• Further development of the land use impact methodology that reflects sustainable forest management realistically
• Further develop the circularity formula
• Developing rules on how intermediate product footprint results will be linked to the final product calculations.

The EU PEF Project continues in 2021 with lessons learned from the 2018-2020 transition period. Cepi together with its sister associations is committed to work further with the EU institutions on the development of the PEF and OEF.

For more and more brands, being able to demonstrate the social and environmental impact of their products is becoming a pre-requisite.  With this in mind, specialist papermaker James Cropper has launched a new collection of papers for premium packaging, including an option with the ultimate 100% post-consumer waste recycled fibre.

The Rydal Packaging Collection, whose name is inspired by a small village and water in the Lake District, best known as the home of the poet William Wordsworth, addresses the need for sustainable papers for retail packaging that do not compromise quality or beauty.  As well as offering 100% post-consumer waste recycled, the range also includes options for 40% post-consumer waste recycled and 100% fresh fibre from responsible forestry sources.

The recycled qualities in the collection include James Cropper’s innovative CupCycling™ fibre, sourced from used coffee cups. With 175 years of papermaking heritage, James Cropper created the world’s first technology to upcycle used coffee cups. This unique post-consumer fibre stream gives a second life to a valuable resource and is designed with circular economy principles at the core.

Tricia Hartmann, packaging lead at James Cropper comments, “While beauty and functionality have always been expected of luxury products, today’s consumers also insist they are environmentally and socially responsible.

“Those same high standards applied to the product itself, now also extend to the entire supply chain, including the packaging. The Rydal Packaging Collection was created to directly answer this need while safeguarding the beauty of premium paper and ensuring a variety of application possibilities for brands.”

Engineered to provide a natural and tactile feel, the new collection is suitable for folding boxes, shopping bags and box covering applications and ensures outstanding print performance and converting characteristics.

Currently available for production and to order in large format sheets for sample dummies and print tests, the collection includes three shades of white and three shades of black. There is also an option for bespoke colours and textural finishes as part of James Cropper’s Tailor Made service.

For those brands wanting the added assurance of antimicrobial product protection, James Cropper’s innovative PaperGard silver ion technology can be included for all Rydal packaging options.

The Board of Directors has appointed Christoph Michalski as new President and CEO of the company. He succeeds Lennart Holm, who has been acting President and CEO since November 2019. Christoph Michalski will assume his new position November 1 2020.

Christoph Michalski is since 2015 the CEO and Executive Director of Vinda International Holding Ltd, a leading Asian producer of high quality and innovative tissue- and hygiene products publicly listed on the Hongkong stock exchange. Before that, he has held various senior executive positions within the SCA group and he also has experience from the FMCG sector working for Unilever and Fonterra. Christoph Michalski is a German national with a Master in Economics from the Christian Albrechts University of Kiel in Germany.

“It is with great pleasure we can present Christoph Michalski as the new President and CEO of BillerudKorsnäs”, says Jan Åström, Chairman of the Board. “Christoph is a strong leader and experienced CEO from the forest products industry, with a track record of leading transformational journeys towards customer and innovation focus in a global context. His international experience is hard to match, and with his proven ability to create shareholder value through profitable growth, I am convinced that Christoph is a leader that can continue and accelerate the strategic journey of BillerudKorsnäs to secure long-term value creation”, Jan Åström continues. “I also want to take this opportunity to thank Lennart Holm for a very well-executed assignment as acting CEO”, Jan Åström concludes.

“I am very excited about joining BillerudKorsnäs”, says Christoph Michalski. “I see enormous potential in the company. The world is undergoing a transformational shift towards environmentally sustainable packaging and e-commerce, and BillerudKorsnäs has just the right position to capture the values in that shift. I look forward to taking on the challenge of developing BillerudKorsnäs into its full potential”, Christoph Michalski continues.Lennart Holm, acting President and CEO of BillerudKorsnäs, leaves his position when Christoph Michalski assumes his new role, but will remain with the company as an advisor until the end of 2020.

Website and ads feature sustainability facts about print and paper products related to forestry, recycling and renewable energy use in the U.S. and Canada

Two Sides North America has just announced the launch of Love Paper, a new campaign designed to raise consumer awareness of the unique and inherently sustainable characteristics of print, paper and paper-based packaging. The centerpiece of the campaign is a consumer-friendly website, lovepaperna.org, where the click of a mouse reveals surprising facts about how print and paper products contribute to a sustainable future for us all.

“As consumers become increasingly concerned about the environmental impacts of the publications they read, the products they buy and the packaging those products come in, they need factual, science-based information to make informed purchasing decisions,” says Two Sides North America President Phil Riebel. “But all too often, they have little more than unsubstantiated marketing claims like ‘go green, go paperless’ or ‘going paperless saves trees’ to guide them. We created the Love Paper campaign to make it easy for anyone to get verifiable facts about the sustainability of print and paper products from a wide variety of trusted sources.”

 Publisher support

A key element of the Love Paper campaign is a series of print ads that promote the sustainability of print and paper. The ads, which focus on the sustainable forestry, recycling and renewable energy advantages of paper, are available to newspaper and magazine publishers free of charge. Editor & Publisher (E&P) magazine, the authoritative journal covering all aspects of the newspaper industry, is among the ad campaign’s most enthusiastic supporters.

“The newspaper industry and our suppliers are very focused on environmental sustainability, so supporting the Love Paper campaign is a natural fit for us,” says E&P Publisher Mike Blinder. “We especially like the ‘Paper Revolution’ ad on recycling because newspaper recycling is such a big part of the American recycling success story. Nearly 70% of old newspapers are recycled into new newsprint, boxboard and other products. The Love Paper ads help us share this great story with our readers.”

The full color ads are available in full page, half page (horizontal and vertical) and quarter page sizes.  Publishers interested in running the ads can go to the “For Publishers” page on the www.lovepaperna.org website or email Two Sides North America at  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Consumers Underestimate the Sustainability of Print and Paper Products

By their very nature, print and paper products are an important part of a circular economy where resources are used as productively and efficiently as possible. They are made with renewable raw materials, are recyclable and in North America are manufactured using mostly renewable, carbon-neutral energy, making them an environmentally sound choice for reading materials, communications and packaging solutions. Yet many North American consumers significantly underestimate how sustainable print and paper products truly are.

For example, a 2019 survey commissioned by Two Sides found that 58% of consumers believe U.S. forests are shrinking. In fact, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization estimates these forests, which supply the fresh wood fiber used by the U.S. pulp and paper industry, grew by a net area equivalent to more than 1,600 NFL football fields per day between 1990 and 2015. In Canada, only 21% of consumers think the recycling rate for paper and paper-based packaging exceeds 60%. In reality, the Canadian recycling rate is among the highest in the world at 70% according to the Forest Products Association of Canada.

“Our surveys also show that 68% of U.S. consumers believe print is the most enjoyable way to read books and 65% prefer reading printed magazines, with Canadian consumer preferences closely matching those of Americans,” Riebel says.  “On the packaging side, our data also show that more than half of U.S. consumers surveyed are actively taking steps to reduce their use of plastic packaging as evidence of harm caused by plastic litter in the oceans continues to grow.  The Love Paper campaign provides credible, fact-based information on why print and paper products are an environmentally responsible choice.”

About Two Sides 

Two Sides North America, Inc. is an independent, non-profit organization that promotes the sustainability of the Graphic Communications and Paper-based Packaging value chain and dispels common environmental misperceptions about print and paper products. We are part of the Two Sides global network which includes more than 600 member companies across North America, South America, Europe, Australia and South Africa.  Our member companies span the Graphic Communications and Paper-based Packaging value chain, including forestry, pulp, paper, paper-based packaging, chemicals and inks, pre-press, press, finishing, printing, publishing, envelopes and postal operations. For more information about Two Sides North America, visit us at www.twosidesna.org

Online service portal helps users with factory-authorized maintenance and repair for Hägglunds hydraulic direct drive systems and motors, including legacy Marathon motors.

Bosch Rexroth has introduced a new online service portal for its Hägglunds hydraulic motors, giving users a single source of information to maintain, repair, modernize or upgrade their equipment with certified specialists and genuine Hägglunds parts. The service portal is accessible from www.boschrexroth-us.com/Hagglunds

With more than 60,000 motors installed globally, Hägglunds low-speed high-torque radial piston drive systems are used in a wide range of industries – from mining and pulp and paper production to recycling systems, marine applications and more.

The new Hägglunds Service Center website from Bosch Rexroth provides information to help users with servicing, repairing, modernizing or upgrading Hägglunds drive systems

“We developed this website to help customers maintain the highest productivity and reliability for their Hägglunds motors, whether they need original, warrantied spare parts or guidance from a certified specialist,” said Brian Howell, Hägglunds Sales and Operations Manager. “No one knows a Hägglunds motor or drive system better than the original equipment provider, and that’s us. When users choose authorized Hägglunds service from Bosch Rexroth, our certified technicians bring their drives and systems back to new performance levels, along with a full factory warranty. 

“We know customers rely on Hägglunds motors and drives to last a long time, and we can help them accurately assess the condition and advise the repair necessary to continue a long-life and maintain uptime.”

The website makes it easy for Hägglunds customers to request a motor return via a simple form submission. They can also learn about upgrading motors and drive units with information on motor comparisons, upgrade kits, cooling improvements for drive units and scalable options to fit their needs. In addition, users can access repair and maintenance resources for legacy Hägglunds Marathon motors, which are no longer in production. In addition, the website provides information about:

• Direct support from certified Hägglunds technical experts for complete system component inspection and analysis
• On-site examinations by certified service specialists equipped for inspection, repair and preventive maintenance support
• Hägglunds-authorized repairs, carried out by skilled, factory-certified personnel at the customer location or at a Rexroth U.S. Hägglunds facility in Ohio or Texas
• Preventive maintenance program offering a full range of services, including written inspection reports, oil level and pressure checks and electrical element inspections
• Genuine Hägglunds spare parts, backed by extended warranty options and fast shipping from strategically located inventories
• Hands-on, in-depth training covering the major hydraulics, electronics and controls of Hӓgglunds large hydraulic drives; training is provided by factory-certified trainers and can be conducted at a customer location or at a Rexroth training facility

The online service center is the latest addition to the Bosch Rexroth portfolio of informative, free resources. The company also offers a free Hägglunds Resource Kit with information ranging from detailed customer case studies to online engineering tools.

Visit www.boschrexroth-us.com/Hagglunds for more information.

International technology group ANDRITZ has received an order from Sun Paper to supply pulp dewatering and white liquor plant technologies and key process equipment for their new pulp mill in Beihai, China.

Start-up is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2021.

ANDRITZ Twin Wire Press for pulp dewatering © ANDRITZ

The scope of supply on EPS basis includes the following equipment:

• Wet lap system with two production lines for a capacity of 1,120 admt/d bleached hardwood kraft pulp, each consisting of a Twin Wire Press for pulp dewatering, a cutter-layboy and a baling line.
  
  The proven ANDRITZ wet lap technology ensures high operational availability and higher final dryness than other wet lap systems in the market. Wet lap is flexible with regard to the pulp type, with the option of producing also other pulp grades if needed. The wet lap system supplied by ANDRITZ will have the highest capacity ever installed in China.

ANDRITZ LimeKiln started up in 2015 at Shandong Sun Honghe mill in Zhoucheng, China. © ANDRITZ

• White liquor plant with a capacity of 10,500 m3/d and comprising major recausticizing equipment and an ANDRITZ LimeKiln. The recausticizing plant delivery includes a LimeSlake slaker-classifier, three causticizing tank agitators, white liquor filtration with a LimeWhite filter to maximize the white liquor quality, and efficient lime mud filtration with a LimeDry filter ensuring high lime mud dryness, which results in low heat consumption in the kiln. The new ANDRITZ LimeKiln, with a capacity of 950 t/d, has a multifuel burner and a high-efficiency LimeCool sector cooler.
  
  This is the third ANDRITZ white liquor plant delivery to Sun Paper, China and underlines ANDRITZ’s strong competitive position for white liquor plants in China.

• ANDRITZ has delivered several ARC systems for the removal of chlorides and potassium from the kraft chemical recovery cycle. © ANDRITZ Evaporation plant with a high-concentration section for a total evaporation capacity of 1,100 t/h and a final dry solids content of 85%. The evaporation plant delivery includes key equipment and technology with ANDRITZ multiple-effect lamella evaporators. The design of the evaporators and process reflects the latest and most modern ANDRITZ evaporator technology and delivers excellent environmental and economic performance.

• Ash re-crystallization (ARC) system, with an ash handling capacity of 400 t/d, to treat the ash from the electrostatic precipitator by decreasing the chloride and potassium content while recovering sodium and sulfate. The ANDRITZ ARC process is based on evaporative crystallization by using economical mechanical vapor recompression (MVR) technology as the heat source.

This order once again confirms the excellent business relationship between ANDRITZ and Sun Paper.

In July 2019, Sun Paper established a wholly owned subsidiary – Guangxi Sun Paper – to build an integrated pulp and paper mill in Beihai. The new greenfield mill in Beihai will eventually have a total pulp and paper capacity of 3.5 million tons annually. The mill will be constructed in two phases over approximately five years.

Rapid revamp of dormant mill will provide cutting-edge, digital solutions to automate operations and optimize performance

Leading Canadian forest product company, Chantiers Chibougamau, has selected technology leader ABB to help overhaul its Nordic Kraft pulp mill in Lebel-Sur-Quevillion in northern Quebec. The order comprises the delivery and integration of a new drives system and ABB Ability ™ Quality Management System (QMS). This includes ABB’s Web Imaging System (WIS) and Web Monitoring System (WMS) into the ABB Ability™ System 800xA distributed control system (DCS). ABB will provide a comprehensive service contract and remote connection for diagnostic and service activity.

The project will transform the Nordic Kraft mill, which had been dormant for 12 years prior to its acquisition by Chantiers Chibougamau in 2018. It will become a modern, efficient and fully integrated digital site, equipped for the first time with complete quality control. The new solutions will accelerate Nordic Kraft’s issue identification and produce semi-autonomous responses to conditions leading to fewer quality rejects.

“The high value and quality of ABB solutions together with our stepwise approach and ability to complete a tight turnaround were the key to this order win,” said John Roberts, Market Segment Manager for Pulp and Paper, ABB. “We worked closely with the mill to ensure that everything we supply has a clear benefit in terms of quality control and ease of operability. Our suite of leading technology coupled with remote monitoring, diagnostic and issue resolution means Nordic Kraft can head off problems before they arise and optimize production to make more on spec kraft pulp.”

ABB NP1200 scanner

As part of the ABB Ability™ QMS, the order includes a new NP1200 scanner with online sensors for moisture, brightness and ABB’s revolutionary Basis Weight Sensor, which offers industry-leading levels of accuracy and reliability in basis weight measurements. The Basis Weight Sensor provides the detailed information needed for optimal machine direction (MD) and cross direction (CD) weight control. The QMS also includes a WIS installation with Web Imaging Dirt Count and a WMS with eight cameras, all designed to provide operators with full visibility over production with integrated online measurement, process and quality controls and defect detection.

“We wanted a reliable and flexible way to make this mill, inoperative for 15 years, more productive and profitable,” said Dany Bellemare, Senior Electrical Engineer and Reliability/Plant Upgrading Project Manager, Nordic Kraft in Lebel-sur-Quévillon. “We were impressed by ABB’s commitment to demonstrating the value in every part of their proposed solution and look forward to a long and successful collaboration.”

Chantiers Chibougamau Ltée, a family business founded in 1961, employs nearly 600 people in Chibougamau, a quarter of the working population in this northern Quebec municipality. The company values ​​the forest resources of the northern boreal forest in Quebec to produce lumber products, I-beams, beams and columns of Nordic Lam glued laminated wood and Nordic X cross-laminated wood panels. -Lam. The latter products are marketed by its sister company Nordic Structures, which relies on a multidisciplinary team of 35 professionals specializing in wood design and engineering. These products are mainly distributed in North America for residential construction and in Quebec for non-residential construction.

Valmet will supply a complete steam boiler plant to Norske Skog’s paper mill in Bruck an der Mur, Austria.

The order was included in Valmet’s orders received of the first quarter 2020. The value of the order is approximately EUR 40 million. The boiler plant will be handed over to the customer in 2022.

The investment will improve the mill’s cost competitiveness, reduce its carbon footprint and create new business beyond publication paper by generating revenue from the combustion of refuse-derived fuels (RDF).

“Norske Skog Bruck has chosen Valmet’s proven technology solution based on several well-performing reference plants. This project is a next step in our green diversification initiatives within the Norske Skog group and a milestone for further development of the Bruck site,” says Enzo Zadra, Managing Director, Norske Skog Bruck GmbH.

“Valmet will deliver a technically demanding boiler plant in which all pieces of advanced technology are seamlessly integrated together to serve the mill’s targets. Valmet Industrial Internet (VII) solutions will play an important role in improving boiler performance and profitability,” says Kai Janhunen, Vice President, Pulp and Energy business line, Energy business unit, Valmet.

With a fuel power of 56 megawatts, the new boiler will run mainly on RDF, pulper rejects and sludge with natural gas as a secondary fuel. It will partly replace the steam production of existing natural-gas-fired boilers as well as supply heat to the paper mill and local district heating network in Bruck, resulting in lower CO₂ emissions.

Information about Valmet’s delivery

Valmet’s turnkey delivery includes Valmet’s BFB boiler plant that utilizes bubbling fluidized bed technology. It features a robust and integrated concept consisting of a gas-fired superheater for final steam superheating, baghouse filter for primary pollution control, SCR system for NO_x reduction, combustion air humidifier as well as a condensing scrubber for heat production and final emission reduction. Additionally, the delivery includes the construction of new buildings for the equipment, an upgrade of an existing Valmet DNA Automation System and Valmet Industrial Internet (VII) solutions with DNA Combustion Manager and DNA Boiler Sootblowing Manager solutions and VII cloud services.

Information about the customer Norske Skog

Norske Skog is a world-leading producer of publication paper with a strong market position in Europe and Australasia. The group operates six paper mills and a pellets business in five countries, with an annual publication paper production capacity of 2.3 million tons and pellets capacity of 85,000 tons. Newsprint and magazine paper is sold through sales offices and agents to over 80 countries. The group has approximately 2,300 employees. In addition to the traditional publication paper and pellets business, it has launched new growth initiatives related to renewable energy, biochemical products and fiber products.

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.

• Full restoration of original screw performance with SmartGrinder
• Reduction of downtimes by up to 20 percent
• No need to dismantle the screw or to use spare screws

SmartGrinder: restoration of original screw performance and reduced downtimes
SmartGrinder is a modular system that can be set up during operation according to the size and requirements of the screw press to be serviced in order to minimize downtime and production losses. Before proceeding with the repair, a detailed digitized condition measurement is carried out for the screw stem and flights. This allows a professional analysis of the existing wear pattern, indicating the areas that require additional attention.

Smartgrinder

The design of the SmartGrinder allows a fast and highly precise restoration of the press screw diameter. "It can thus follow the flight geometry exactly, reducing downtimes by up to 20 percent compared to conventional repairs," says Geert Tichler, Senior Product Management & Global Expert Refurbishment Technologies, Voith Paper. "As our service provides the flights with the required sharp edges, this results in an optimum removal from the fibermat."

No need to dismantle the screw or to use spare screws
After the first service, the SmartGrinder can be replaced even faster because the assembly plates remain on the screw press. In addition, all new Voith screw presses are already equipped with designated assembly plates, allowing fast and specialized Voith on-site services. When repaired using the SmartGrinder, there is no need to dismantle the screw or to use spare screws, and costly screw transport is eliminated.

Expansion of Servolution portfolio with refurbishment services
The SmartGrinder ideally complements Voith’s Servolution portfolio. Similar systems for the reconditioning of product geometries are already in use not only for screw presses but also, for example, for disc filter centershaft repairs.

For further information about our optimization services for screw presses please visit: http://voith.com/corp-en/screw-press-optimization.html

About the Voith Group
The Voith Group is a global technology company. With its broad portfolio of systems, products, services and digital applications, Voith sets standards in the markets of energy, oil & gas, paper, raw materials and transport and automotive. Founded in 1867, the company today has more than 19,000 employees, sales of € 4.3 billion and locations in more than 60 countries worldwide and is thus one of the larger family-owned companies in Europe.

The Group Division Voith Paper is part of the Voith Group. As the full-line supplier to the paper industry, it provides the largest range of technologies, services, components and products on the market, and offers paper manufacturers solutions from a single source. The company’s continuous stream of innovations takes papermaking to the next level and facilitates resource-conserving production. With its Servolution concept, Voith offers its customers tailored service solutions for all sections of the production process. Voith Papermaking 4.0 ensures that equipment is optimally connected, while the secure use of generated data enables paper manufacturers to improve plant availability and efficiency.