Over the Wire

 Local Sections Offer Engagement

The Lake States TAPPI Executive Committee chose a special location for its March meeting: beside the University of Wis-consin-Stevens Point Pilot Paper Machine. Shown conducting Lake States TAPPI business in preparation for April’s PaperCon are, left to right: Martti Tuomisto, Bill Frawley, Jerry Lazarski, Bruce Janda, Dave Schwerbel, Michael von Grumbkow, and Marc Brink.

Lake States TAPPI/North Central PIMA is one of 10 TAPPI Local Sections open to TAPPI members. Organized geograph-ically, Local Sections hold meetings, sponsor mill tours, develop programs, and offer workshops. Many work with local univer-sities to sponsor scholarships; they also provide conveniently-located networking opportunities. To learn more about TAPPI Local Sections, contact [email protected].

 

 

MANUFACTURERS

   Ahlstrom Corp. and Munksjö Oyj, both Finland-based, have completed the previously-announced merger of Ahlstrom into Munksjö. Ahlstrom-Munksjö Oyj will have combined annual net sales of approximately EUR 2.2 billion (US$2.32 billion), about 6,200 employees, and 41 production and converting facilities in 14 countries.

   Americk Packaging, UK, has opened its new Innovation Center, a dedicated facility at its Wigan, England, plant.

   Asia Pulp and Paper Group (APP) has ordered eight tissue machines from Toscotec. Two are scheduled to come on stream in Q4 2017 and Q1 2018; the other six are planned for delivery between Q3 2017 and the first half of 2018.

  Daio Paper, Japan, has ordered a new XcelLine tissue machine from Voith.

  DS Smith has opened the first PackRight Center in Switzerland—the 27th PackRight Center in the company’s European network. Another is opening soon in Germany.

  Finnpulp has been granted an environmental permit for its bioproduct plant in Sorsasalo, Kuopio, Finland, and connected wastewater treatment facility. Production is planned for 2020.

  Industrie Cartarie Tronchetti (ICT), Italy, is investing about PLN 301 million (US$ 75.5 million) in its Polish tissue mill.

  International Paper has been recognized again by the Ethisphere Institute, a global leader in defining and advancing ethical business standards, as a 2017 World’s Most Ethical Company.

  PaperWorks Industries will permanently close the PaperWorks Philadelphia Mill in Manayunk, PA—one of the oldest paper mills in the US.

  Papyrus Holding AB, the parent company in the Papyrus Group, will change its name to OptiGroup AB, and the group will be referred to as the OptiGroup.

  Pratt Industries Inc. has opened its new, US$60 million corrugated box factory in Beloit, WI.

 Rayonier Inc. has entered into three transactions with separate sellers to acquire about 95,100 acres of high-quality in-dustrial timberlands in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina for an aggregate purchase price of about US$217 million.

 Resolute Forest Products Inc. has started up its new tissue machine in Calhoun, TN.

 SCA has been named a Green Master by the Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council.

 Sonoco has launched its ClearGuard portfolio of flexible packaging. The product meets or exceeds barrier requirements for a variety of growing product categories.

 Sun Paper has ordered two new XcelLine papermaking production lines—PM 36 and PM 37—from Voith.

 Tembec has announced a four-year, CAD136 million (US$101 million) capital investment program centered on the spe-cialty cellulose pulp operation at the Temiscaming, QC, mill.

SUPPLIERS

  AkzoNobel reports that its Imagine Chemistry initiative has resulted in more than 200 innovative ideas being submitted by chemistry startups, scientists, research groups, and students around the world.

  Archroma, Switzerland, has opened its new Global Center of Excellence for Surface & Coating Technology in Bradford, UK.

  Eaglewood Technologies has expanded its headquarters to include a demonstration center for Laserlox and Sanilox Anilox Roll Cleaning Systems.

 Leine & Linde, Sweden, now offers an integrated Advanced Diagnostic System (ADS Online) for improved production and condition monitoring capability. Mica Corporation’s new photovoltaic solar panel system atop its headquarters in Shelton, CT, is expected to generate up to 65 kWh of clean energy per day.

 PMP (Paper Machinery Producer), Poland, will deliver an Intelli-Jet V hydraulic headbox for PM 12 at Sappi North America in Cloquet, MN.

 Pöyry, Finland, will design the rebuild of PM 1 at Sappi’s Somerset mill in Skowhegan, ME.

 Sulzer has been chosen to provide the UK market with maintenance and repair services for ABB medium and high voltage motors and generators.

 Toscotec:

• will supply a MODULO-PLUS crescent former with single press configuration, TT SYD-3200MM and TT MilltechHood to EuroVast, Italy, to expand the capacity at Cartiera della Basilica’s Botticino plant.

• will supply a MODULO-PLUS machine for the Ariete S.r.l. mill in Cava dei Tirreni, Salerno. Valmet:

• will supply a fine paper line for Ittihad International Investment LLC in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

• will supply a new Advantage ThruAir Drying (TAD) machine for Irving Consumer Products.

• started its first Advantage NTT machine in Europe at Renova in Portugal.

•will deliver a biomass-fired CYMIC power boiler and a flue gas cleaning system to Buzen New Energy LLC, Japan. Voith has joined forces with Boston Consulting Group Digital Ventures to establish a digital marketplace for the paper in-dustry. The initial product solution from the joint venture, merQbiz, is the first digital trading platform for recovered paper in the US.

EVENTS

• RISI Asian Conference: May 22-24, Shenzhen, China. events.risiinfo.com/asian-conference

• TAPPI International Nanotechnology Conference: June 5-8, Montreal, QC. conference.tappinano.org

• Pulp and Paper Safety Association (PPSA) Annual Conference: June 18-21, Charleston, SC. ppsa.org/2017-conference

• Zellcheming: July 4-6, Frankfurt, Germany. zellcheming.de/en/zellcheming-expo.html • KilnCon 2017: Aug. 30-31, Savannah, GA. Contact [email protected]

• TISSUE 2017: Oct. 3-6, Miami, FL. www.tissue2017.org

• RISI North American Conference: Oct. 16-18, Boston, MA. events.risiinfo.com/north-american-conference • TAPPI PEERS/IBBC Conference: Nov. 5-8, Norfolk, VA. http://tappipeers.org

• PPI 2017 Awards Ceremony: Nov. 29, Brussels, Belgium. events.risiinfo.com/ppi-awards

 

Sofidel Partners with WaterAid

 

Global tissue paper manufacturer The Sofidel Group, Italy, has launched a three-year partnership with WaterAid, an NGO whose mission is to ensure access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene services in some of the world’s poorest commu-nities.

WaterAid was founded in 1981, and since then it has given 25 million people access to safe water and provided sanitation and hygiene for 24 million people in 30 countries. Over the next three years, Sofidel will support WaterAid’s operations, contributing to spreading better health conditions and enabling rural communities, schools, and health centers to adopt and sustain good practices in hygiene and sanitation. Sofidel will also play an active role by involving its stakeholders in fund-raising and campaigning activities for WaterAid.

“ Sofidel is perfectly aware of how precious a resource water is, both for natural balance and human well-being and hy-giene,” said Luigi Lazzareschi, CEO of the Sofidel Group. “ This is the reason why we are already highly committed to using it responsibly in all of our production sites and we work on various levels to raise awareness among our stakeholders. (Our new partnership with WaterAid) is another way to play a responsible role with respect to an issue of global interest, together with a highly appreciated NGO.”