Officials with Kuraray America, Inc. (KAI) announced the company has launched the Kuraray Foundation of America, Inc. (KFA). A fully independent entity, this 501 (c)(3) nonprofit corporation will support KAI’s employees and their communities in the wake of natural disasters and other significant events, as well as oversee the company’s process of ongoing charitable contributions and sponsorships. 

Veritiv (Atlanta, Georgia) will soon begin shipments of work-safe partitions built from corrugated materials. Cost-effective, easy to set up and environmentally friendly, these partitions give business and academic environments a safe and simple way to help protect employees, customers and students.

AICC, The Independent Packaging Association, with the support of HP, brought members a free webinar, E-Commerce & Corrugated Packaging Post COVID-19, on June 15. Presenters Ron Sasine, Principal, Hudson Windsor LLC, and Ted Samotis, Director of Go-To-Market, HP PageWide Industrial Corrugated, HP, shared their insights about e-commerce, digital printing, and new opportunities. Panelist Mark Mathes, CEO, Vanguard Packaging, and Louie DeJesus, Owner, CompanyBox, also shared some of the secrets to their success. 

Two Sides North America today announced the launch of Love Paper, a new campaign designed to raise consumer awareness of the unique and inherently sustainable characteristics of print, paper and paper-based packaging.

IBS Austria GmbH has acquired an 80 percent share in Horst Sprenger GmbH Spezialwerkzeuge. As a metering systems specialist, Horst Sprenger’s product line complements the existing portfolio of products for the paper, board and pulp industry.

Klingele Paper & Packaging Group has signed an agreement with Brazilian paper and packaging manufacturer Klabin to purchase the kraftliner paper mill in Nova Campina.

As of July 1, 2020, the two paper wholesalers Papier Union GmbH and Papyrus Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG merged and are now trading as Inapa Deutschland GmbH. This completes the consolidation of Inapa Group, Portugal, parent company of Papier Union, Papyrus Deutschland and Inapa Deutschland, in its German operations. Inapa Deutschland now employs over 1,000 people at numerous locations throughout Germany. The headquarters are located in Hamburg.

Wood fiber costs fell for many hardwood pulp-producing countries worldwide in the 1Q/20. The biggest declines (in US dollar terms) were seen in the US South, Russia, and Latin America, where hardwood pulplog prices were down between 5 and 10 percent from the 4Q/19.

“The investment is part of Södra’s new Group strategy and means that we can continue to follow our chosen path and grow together with our customers. Increasing production will strengthen our competitiveness and our position in the global market as a long-term and secure partner,” said Peter Karlsson, Interim President and CEO at Södra. 

Mondi has successfully completed the implementation of a new state-of-the-art paper sack converting machine at its Nyíregyháza site in Hungary. The machine – a Windmöller & Hölscher AD 8320 / AM 8115 – allows the plant to produce a new line of sophisticated paper sacks for food packaging. The site will be capable of producing more than 130 million sacks annually.

Valmet will supply a new off-machine coating machine to Oji Papéis Especiais (OPE) in Piracicaba, Brazil. With the new off-machine coater PC4, OPE is seeking to increase thermal paper production capacity and strengthen its competitiveness globally, focusing on the Brazilian, South American and North American markets.

The Swedish pulp and paper manufacturer said Pure Performance combines high strength, good printability and packaging material reduction through its 3-ply construction with optimized fiber properties.

Ahlstrom-Munksjö announced the launch of its 'from Plastic to Purpose' campaign, highlighting first its new brand of CelluSnack™ snack packaging papers.

Ahlstrom-Munksjö has been awarded with EcoVadis Gold rating for the company’s sustainability management and performance for the fourth consecutive year. Compared with the results from the previous year, progress was especially made in sustainable procurement.

Graanul Invest Group has published its 2019 Sustainability Report that includes for the first time carbon footprint calculations. The report states that the balance of the groups’ carbon emissions is not only zero, but strongly negative, functioning as a sink for carbon dioxide equivalents.

Michelman announced the addition of two new associates to its Printing & Packaging business segment.

DS Smith announced the appointment of Rogier Gerritsen as Managing Director of our Recycling Division.

Kadant Solutions, a division of Kadant Inc. (NYSE: KAI), announced that Bilal Mehmood has been named president. Mr. Mehmood is currently Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for Kadant Inc. and will join Kadant Solutions Division in his new capacity on July 1, 2020.

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