Packaging-Related Research Garners 2024 TJ Best Paper Award

Each year, the TAPPI Journal (TJ) Editorial Board honors exemplary content by nominating and voting for the Best Research Paper based on scientific merit, innovation, creativity, and clarity.

The research paper recently selected as best in 2024 is titled “Life cycle carbon analysis of packaging products containing nonwood residues: A case study on linerboard and corrugating medium.” Authored by Antonio Suarez, Ashok Ghosh, Fritz Paulsen, and Peter W. Hart of the Smurfit Westrock (formerly WestRock) research team, the sustainability paper appeared in TJ’s March, 2024 issue and is available for free download at tappi.org.

“Suarez’s team’s research examined pulp from nonwoods like wheat straw and sugarcane bagasse using a holistic life cycle analysis approach to project environmental performance in packaging products,” said TJ editor-in-chief Douglas Coffin. “The results can help mills make decisions about which fibers ensure a low carbon footprint.”

Suarez is a senior R&D scientist, Ghosh is R&D manager, and Paulsen is senior director of research for Smurfit Westrock. Hart was a research fellow for the company before he passed away in May, 2024.

LEAD AUTHOR ALSO RECEIVES HONGHI TRAN AWARD

In addition to receiving Best Research Paper honors as primary author, Suarez will also receive TJ’s Honghi Tran Prize. The US$3,000 cash prize is endowed by Professor Emeritus Honghi Tran of the University of Toronto, the author and co-author of more than 80 papers published in TJ. Tran established the award in 2019 as a US$2,000 prize to encourage and reward the publication of high-quality research in TJ. The honorarium was recently increased to US$3,000. The Best Research Paper Award and Honghi Tran Prize was presented at TAPPICon, which was held in May 2025, in Minneapolis, MN.

A WORTHY RUNNER-UP

The 2024 runner-up to Best Research Paper was “Alkyl ketene dimer (AKD) sized paper reversion due to oxidative photodegradation,” authored by Yao Ntifafa, senior research scientist at Smurfit Westrock, with co-authors Yun Ji and Peter W. Hart. Ji is professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of North Dakota. Also available as a free download, the runner-up paper was part of a special Papermaking Additives issue organized by TJ Editorial Board member Scott Rosencrance of Kemira and guest editor Anthony J. Petty II of Solenis.

“Even though AKD has been used for years, this work nicely demonstrates the impact of light and oxygen on AKD sizing performance related to the impact of unwanted photodegradation processes,” says Rosencrance.