According to a report this week by EUWID, Germany, recycled corrugated case material manufacturer Blue Paper, France, a joint venture company of VPK Packaging and Klingele Papierwerke, is planning to build a 18 MW steam plant running on refuse-derived fuels (RDF) at its paper mill in Strasbourg, France. The RDF plant is to incinerate rejects from the stock preparation and recycled paper manufacturing and generate process steam for the company's recycled containerboard machine PM 1. 

Blue Paper filed an application for a permit with the Alsace, Champagne-Ardenne, and Lorraine Regional Directorate for the Environment and Spatial Planning this June. The competent French authorities have yet to make a decision. 

Blue Paper expects French authorities to make a decision on the RDF plant in January 2017 at the latest. If a permit is issued, the steam plant might be erected as soon as spring 2018. Blue Paper has earmarked an investment of about EUR 20 million for the project. 

Production capacity of Blue Paper's PM 1 totaled 280,000 metric tpy in the first two years after the machine was rebuilt from coated magazine paper to recycled corrugated case material. Towards the end of last year, the firm secured a new operating permit for annual production of 400,000 metric tpy of recycled corrugated case material. Blue Paper expects the output of PM 1 to reach some 360-370,000 metric tpy this year. A spokesperson for VPK Packaging told EUWID that the plans to build the RDF steam plant at Blue Paper in Strasbourg are directly connected to the approved capacity increase.