Combined Locks, Wis., USA founded when the paper mill opened in 1889, braced for the loss of its largest employer and feared that the community would be left with a hulking industrial wasteland, just like the other failed paper mills dotting the state. And for the first time since high school, Mr. Strick, who was then 58, started looking for a new job.

Then something unexpected happened: Amazon and China, two forces that are often blamed for destroying American employment in retail and manufacturing, helped Mr. Strick get his paper industry job back...

 

AF&PA President & CEO Donna Harman said, "Oregon’s forest products sector has long applied sustainable manufacturing practices to preserve and protect the environment as it produces products that make everyday life easier. That commitment has earned the state a slot as one of the top ten forest industry employers. We hope state legislators recognize the value of that compelling story – one that in 2017 provided jobs to over 61,000 workers with an average wage of $54,200 per year and a total payroll of $3.3 billion...."

 

Total European shipments of graphic papers in January 2019 were down 4.6% vs. January 2018 and are down 4.6% year-to-date. Total European shipments of newsprint in January 2019 were up 1.1% vs. January 2018 and are up 1.1% year-to-date.

 

"The negative outlook for the global paper and forest products industry reflects a 2%-4% decline in industry operating income over the next year or so," said Ed Sustar, a Moody's SVP. "Increasing paper packaging prices and demand for paper packaging and pulp will only partially offset rising input costs, declining demand for paper and lower wood product and market pulp prices." Outlook for the paper packaging and tissue subsector remains stable

 

The International Falls, Minnesota mill will conduct an annual maintenance outage April 27 – May 4, 2019. As a result, mill service programs will be adjusted for the month of May for the following grades: Boise® White Wove Envelope; Boise® Offset; Boise® Opaque.

 

As of this week, Mohawk is excited to announce that Mohawk is now manufacturing and holding inventory of iconic Crane’s Lettra and Crest in our North American warehouses. Both product lines are being made to the high standards and elegant styling customers have come to trust.

 

"Cobalt Coating Technology™ was designed to enhance the overall experience for users by delivering outstanding print performance to a wide range of unique and powerful materials. Mohawk’s dedication to providing commercial printers with industry-leading products, coupled with their exceptional reputation for service and expertise, brings the Cobalt™ experience full circle," said Dan Lawellin, Product Manager, HP Indigo Media, Kernow Coatings.

 

Kotkamills board production technology and the raw materials used in the ISLA® Duo production offer a high stiffness cup with a smooth and pleasing tactility. The barrier properties needed for the paper cups are produced with water-based dispersion, making it a plastic-free alternative. Unlike traditional PE coated paper cups, the water-based dispersion barrier layer of the ISLA® Duo does not become charged by static electricity. This is the innovative key to achieving high printing speeds and excellent stackability properties.

 

"The cooperation allows us to test our chemistry innovations for renewable food packaging very hands-on," explained Sami Puttonen, Senior Manager at Kemira. "At Koepala, we are driven by our environmental commitments for sustainable, flat and flexible packaging solutions," said Koepala's CEO Janne Asikainen.

 

Delivery is scheduled for the third quarter of 2019. PM1 has a wire width of 3,200 mm and produces core board from 90 to 450 gsm using 100% recycled fibers. It will get a new frame for the entire dryer section and 19 TT SteelDryers, designed for an operating steam pressure of 10 barg, and equipped with bearing housings, steam fits, and turbulence bars. The TT SteelDryers will replace most of the mill’s existing cast iron cans. Scope of supply also includes: a new tail blowing system in the press section and new mechanical drives for the entire PM.

 

Sun said it is fully committed to supporting the CEFLEX vision of establishing a comprehensive sustainability and circular economy roadmap for flexible packaging by 2020. The roadmap will include widely recognized design guidelines and a robust approach to measure, demonstrate, and communicate the significant value flexible packaging adds to the circular economy.

 

"Paper receipts are made from a renewable resource: trees. The environmental and health risks cited in California State Assembly bill AB 161 ignore fundamental recycling capabilities and are based on misleading and unsubstantiated statements and should not be enshrined in California law. Paper receipts are not only fully recyclable, they are routinely collected throughout California to be recycled, just as magazines, catalogs, mail and office papers...." - AF&PA Executive Director.

 

By using Ahlstrom-Munksjö HighFlow fabrics, the infusion process itself is more reliable as there is a lower risk for unsaturated areas of carbon unidirectional fabric. In this new range of products the permeability of fabrics is totally engineerable, the flow rate and direction can be controlled. This means that our customers can now forget problems related to infusion of carbon fiber fabrics.

 

Screen has thoroughly been tested in most demanding OCC applications and shows significant improvements in energy efficiency, screening performance and maintainability. PrimeScreen X builds on the success of more than 5,400 globally installed Andritz pressure screens in stock preparation applications and offers additional and innovative key benefits to our customers.

 

Under the Enza MF brand, the 100% virgin fiber product is chlorine-free, PEFC certified, compliant with FDA standards and designed to run on all current straw converting equipment. Its advanced strength is ideal to handle all types of liquids while maintaining the straw structure and integrity, and its smooth surface allows for complex printing and color design capabilities.

 

The diverse IMGN portfolio comprises POS, displays, consumer and shelf-ready product packaging, all of which used to improve in-store brand impact. The total offer includes high-resolution color printing via flexography, lithography, and digital. It brings you unparalleled color intensity and printing precision.

 

"We are excited to introduce NuVo to our customers, with a quality standard that we believe stands apart from any other paperboard cup product in the market," said Steve Bowden, senior vice president of the pulp and paperboard division. "Our newly-branded NuVo products are an important part of our plan at Clearwater Paper to offer innovative and sustainable solutions that fit the evolving needs of our customers."

 

Company will showcase a variety of testing instruments by which the complete production process can be controlled and guided in the right direction. From the wet end to the finished product, the application of the equipment enables an efficient process, to get the best possible quality with the lowest possible costs.

 

William Rocha, Continuous Improvement Manager of Fiber Packaging, Huhtamaki Brazil, recapped the history of the Multi-E egg-tray R&D projects: "When analyzing our offering and listening to our customers we saw that we could improve our egg trays. We set to reach better efficiency on the customers graders, less egg breakage during long transportation on uneven roads and suitable for extreme humidity."

 

Price increase by 5-20% on specialty chemicals for the pulp and paper industry in the Asia Pacific region.
They will also increase prices by 5-10% for polyacrylamide (PAM) products in the region. Price changes are necessary due to the increase in certain raw material costs combined with a tightening overall global supply chain.

 

"When we started our water conservation program, the goal was to reduce water usage in our mills to a sustainable level," said Vetri Dhagumudi, Global Water Program Leader, Kimberly-Clark. "But we quickly realized that we couldn’t just focus on our own facilities. It is critical that we consider the whole watershed and work with local stakeholders to understand water risk. That way, no one gets left behind."

 

EcoLogo is the world’s second oldest environmental standard and certification organization, and the only North American standard approved by the Global Ecolabeling Network as meeting the international ISO 14024 standard for environmental labels. EcoLogo certification is voluntary, and demonstrates that a product has undergone rigorous scientific testing and exhaustive auditing.

 

Rolland’s 2019 sustainability strategy revealed goals aligned with three of the UN SDGs, and their pledge to increase use of recycled fibers across all products by 20% by 2030 (in line with UN SDG 12 of Responsible Consumption and Production) will directly contribute toward reducing impact on forests.

 

A recent study found that 75% of consumers have a preference for the sustainable Nor-Grip product versus a plastic shrink film. In the wake of growing concerns about the amount of packaging waste going into the world’s oceans and landfill, a growing number of global brands have approached Smurfit Kappa to provide recyclable alternatives for single-use plastics such as shrink film.

 

While some are engaged in climate discussion, others are, even today, taking climate action by clearing, thinning and renewing their forests. These climate heroes should not be accused of destroying forest sinks but thanked for growing these sinks in a sustainable way. Harvesting restrictions would mean restrictions on forest management. That would slow down the growth of forests and carbon sinks.

 

"Preventing eutrophication requires collaboration between various parties. We are able to utilize nutritious sidestreams from other operators at our biological treatment plants. This way, we can replace nutrients essential to industrial treatment plants and reduce the amount of nutrients ending up into waters at a local level", explained Eerik Ojala, Director, Responsibility, Production support.

 

With a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and an MBA, Jean-David Tardif first joined Cascades in 1997. His career path has led him to work successively for each of the company's three groups. In the Tissue Group, he was VP Consumer Products, from 2013 to 2017. Since December 2017 , he has held the position of VP, Operations for Cascades Containerboard Packaging.

 

Jeffrey L. Powell will be named president effective April 1, 2019 and CEO and a director effective July 1, 2019, as part of a succession plan adopted by the board of directors. As part of the succession plan, Jonathan W. Painter will become executive chairman of the board of directors effective July 1, 2019. William A. Rainville, the company’s current chairman of the board of directors, has decided not to stand for reelection as a director.

 

Eckhard Kallies knows what he's talking about. He's worked in the paper industry for almost 30 years, most recently in the area of paper for flexible packaging. He outlines Koehler's target as follows: "As a newcomer to the field, we will soon make a name for ourselves as an innovative and reliable supplier in the supply chain." The key here is creating target-oriented solutions with converters and brand owners and establishing paper as the packaging material of the future.

 

If you’re Involved in the Operations of the Papermachine, This Course is for You! Industry recognized experts help you discover what the papermachine is capable of doing and how pushing those buttons impact the entire process.

 

Join a large panel of expertise is assembled to instruct this course! With a more complete understanding of the process, you will be better able to safely achieve and maintain high production levels in mill operations by reducing downtime and off-quality paper.

 

NSK Corporation is accepting applications for an Applications Engineer – Industrial Bearings for its Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA location.

 

There is a new technology that improves the properties of your nonwoven materials. Interested? Attend NETInc 2019 and learn all about it.

 

Occupational and environmental safety issues related to cellulose nanomaterials (CNM) will be the focus of this three-and-a-half hour workshop at TAPPI’s International Conference on Nanotechnology for Renewable Materials, June 3-7, 2019 in Chiba, Japan.

 

Take a sneak peek into the P&P industry’s most pertinent issues...