Kemira has been selected as the primary chemical supplier for Cascades’ new recycled board mill in North America. Cascades, a Canadian-based leading producer of sustainable packaging solutions, is converting their Bear Island mill in Virginia, US, to a containerboard machine that will produce lightweight 100% recycled linerboard and medium grades for the North American market.
Kemira will supply majority of the process and functional chemicals as well as chemistry application expertise needed for the end-to-end board manufacturing process at the Bear Island mill.
The Bear Island mill grade conversion is expected to be completed by the end of 2022, and once in full operation, the mill will have an annual production capacity of about 465,000 tons.
“Converting a paper machine to produce a new grade and meet new quality parameters is a challenging task and requires complete re-design and re-optimization of chemistry applications. We are proud that Cascades has chosen Kemira to be their partner in this major machine start-up. With our total chemistry management and application expertise, we can help the mill achieve their product quality and productivity targets as soon as possible,” states Tuija Pohjolainen-Hiltunen, SVP, Commercial at Kemira Pulp & Paper Americas.
After start-up, Kemira will continue to operate the chemical applications at the mill and in addition, implement digital services to support continuous improvement and maximize machine performance.
“Our KemConnect digital services allow real-time visibility and predictive capabilities for deeper understanding of chemistry impact and process performance, which provides opportunities to increase operational efficiency, quality, and productivity,” concludes Tuija Pohjolainen-Hiltunen.
Kemira is a global leader in sustainable chemical solutions for water intensive industries. We provide best suited products and expertise to improve our customers’ product quality, process and resource efficiency. Our focus is on pulp & paper, water treatment and oil & gas. In 2020, Kemira had annual revenue of around EUR 2.4 billion and around 5,000 employees. Kemira shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd. www.kemira.com