Kimberly-Clark Corp., Dallas, Texas, USA, has been named to the first "Natural Capital Leaders Index" of global companies that have successfully reported growing revenues in recent years while reducing environmental impacts. The Natural Capital Leaders Index was published this month by GreenBiz Group, in association with Trucost plc, as part of its seventh annual report, State of Green Business 2014. The index names K-C among 34 "decoupling leaders" from 10 countries that have increased their revenues for the 2008‒2012 period, disclosed greenhouse gas emissions, and also reduced other environmental impacts such as air emissions, water use, and energy use. 

More information  about sustainability at Kimberly-Clark is available online.

"We're proud that our efforts to continuously improve our sustainability practices are being recognized by such well-respected organizations as the GreenBiz Group and Trucost plc," said Lisa Morden, senior director of global sustainability for K-C. "Leaders across Kimberly-Clark are committed to realizing more sustainable operations and we understand that consumers, customers, employees, and all of our business partners expect us to be wise and prudent stewards of the resources that are essential to our business."

Joel Makower, executive editor for GreenBiz Group and principal author of State of Green Business 2014, said that "Kimberly-Clark is a leader among companies that are taking a comprehensive, balanced approach to reducing environmental impact. We respect this leadership team's commitment to transparency and continuous improvement in its sustainable business practices, and showing how doing so aligns the interests of consumers, the environment, and the global community."

The broader State of Green Business 2014 measures progress of large publicly traded companies on a range of sustainability targets. The report's findings are based on Trucost's review of 4,600 major companies worldwide, representing 93% of global markets by market capitalization.

The "heart" of this year’s Tissue360° Forum at PaperCon, set for April 28-30 in downtown Nashville, Tenn., USA, contains two special tissue converting sessions. The first of the two sessions, which together focus on Tissue Converting Innovations, will be held in the first half of the afternoon on April 29. 

The first session will include three in-depth technical papers. Manrico Giusfredi, Fabio Perinni, will explore "Evolutions in Tissue Converting," and Justen Smith of Futura will look at the M&R side of converting with a presentation on how an "Advanced Documentation System Revolutionizes Maintenance and Training." Rounding out the session, Massimo Capisani, Pulsar America, will examine "Conveying of Tissue Products: Intelligent Integration for the Converting Lines."

The second converting session in the latter half of the afternoon on April 29 will begin with a statistical overview of the converting side of the tissue products industry by Pöyry. It will then turn to a very special panel of global tissue converting experts who will discuss, analyze, and respond to questions and input for session attendees about new innovations, trends, and strategies in tissue converting.
 

In addition to Converting Innovations, this year’s second annual Tissue360° Forum program will focus on technical advances in base sheet structure, fiber and wet end chemistry technologies, yankee dryer operations, and finished product testing. All material is non-commercial and is selected and peer-reviewed by industry leaders with extensive tissue expertise. The program is co-located with TAPPI’s PaperCon 2014 Conference and NETInc  Nonwovens Conference—attendees may attend all three events for one charge. Specific Tissue topics include:  

• Converting Innovations
• Fiber Usage and Supply 
• Wet End and Creping Chemistry 
• Insights into Sheet Structure
• Tissue Testing Workshop – Standards and Methods
• Yankee Operations and Mill Safety.

The full program is available online. There will also be a trade fair, spouse program, and numerous networking opportunities.

SCA, Philadelphia, Pa., USA, has announced the first U.S. sailor to join Team SCA, the only all-female crew to compete in the 2014-2015 Volvo Ocean Race. Sally Barkow, a former Olympic sailor and Wisconsin native, joins an international crew of 11 women who will compete in a nine-leg race around the world, covering more than 39,000 miles of the world’s most challenging oceans and conditions.

The Volvo Ocean Race is one of sailing’s "Big Three" events along with the America's Cup and the Olympics. "Team SCA," the official name for the crew, was the first to announce an entry for what will be the 12th edition of the race that will launch from Alicante, Spain, in October 2014. An all-female team is uncommon for the sailing competition (there hasn’t been one in more than a decade) due, in part, to the intense physical challenges of the race. However, all boat entries this time are using the exact same boat design, leveling the playing field.

"The Volvo Ocean Race offers us a great opportunity to raise the profile of SCA and its brands in the U.S. in a way that supports our B2B customers," said Don Lewis, president of SCA in the Americas. "Team SCA’s participation aligns strongly with a key focus of our company -- respect for nature – and underscores our connection with our consumers worldwide, 80% of whom are women."

This introductory course, covering the basic manufacturing methods and chemistry, is being offered April 30-May 1, 2014, in Nashville, Tenn., USA.  It provides a great foundation for anyone new to the tissue or converting industry. Instructors include TAPPI tissue experts having extensive experience with both At-Home and Away from Home products. 

More information is available online.  

Formerly known as TAPPI’s Tissue Runnabiility Course, this advanced course on tissue operations and runnability is being updated and tentatively planned for August 19-21 in Neenah, Wis., USA. Watch this newsletter for more information, or contact Scott Springmier to be added to the mailing list. 

Kimberly-Clark Corp., Dallas, Texas, USA, is one of two companies that will receive the prestigious 2014 Catalyst Award. which annually honors innovative initiatives that expand leadership and opportunities for women and business, Catalyst, New York, N.Y., announced this past week. K-C shares this year's Catalyst Award with Lockheed Martin, the security and aerospace firm.

Since 1987, the Catalyst Award has recognized 82 initiatives at 76 organizations worldwide, focusing on the recruitment, development, and advancement of women in workplaces. K-C participated in a rigorous, year-long application and review process that included extensive interviews with dozens of its employees and leaders against criteria including business rationale, senior leadership support, accountability, communication, employee engagement, innovation, and measurable results.

"Women are directly responsible for about 80% of purchases across our business. We must cultivate a diversity of perspectives to drive innovation and business results," said Thomas J. Falk, K-C chairman and CEO. "Our Kimberly-Clark team is honored to receive this recognition from Catalyst. The award represents an important milestone in our journey to make Kimberly-Clark the very best place for talented women and men to grow and build their careers."

Kimberly-Clark's winning initiative, "Unleash Your Power: Strengthening the Business With Women Leaders," is driven by the company's strategy for building a diverse and inclusive organization that looks, thinks, and behaves like the consumers who use and purchase K-C's essential products in their daily lives. Unleash Your Power includes other key elements as well: fostering global networking forums and mentoring relationships for women; promoting specific policies that enable work-life flexibility to attract and retain women in leadership roles; defining specific business and action plans for recruiting, developing, and retaining talented women across the enterprise; and many others.

Unleash Your Power has delivered significant results in the past four years:

• 71% increase in the number of women who hold director-level or higher leadership positions globally.
• Doubled the number of women in the U.S. with racially or ethnically diverse backgrounds in "director-plus" roles since 2009.
• Internal promotions of women to "director-plus" jobs have increased significantly, from 19% to 44%.

"With Unleash Your Power, we collected lots of data about our performance and used those findings to hold a mirror against our organization, to dispel conventional wisdom about our practices, and build a fact-based case for action," said Sue Dodsworth, chief diversity officer for K-C. "We're still making progress, but today we have a better understanding of our current state, how people move through our organization, where the issues are, and how change can occur."

Catalyst is a nonprofit organization with a mission to expand opportunities for women and business. It is dedicated to creating more inclusive workplaces "where employees representing every dimension of diversity can thrive." 

By Roberto Berardi, European Tissue Symposium (ETS)

When you work in an industry that relies on forests for its base material, you naturally think long term.  Business sustainability is a way of life in the European tissue industry where trees can have a growing cycle of up to 50 years. Europe has some of the most advanced forestry management systems in the world and performs well against a range of sustainability criteria. The goal of the tissue industry is to not only drive the adoption of ever-greater sustainability practices within our own sector, but to be an integral part of driving sustainable hygiene and human health throughout Europe. Sustainability must become a way of life.

Before elaborating on some of the initiatives the industry is taking, I should clearly define the concept of "sustainable business." Sustainability is often described as having three pillars: social, environmental, and economic. I agree of course, but my  preferred definition is one I learned in a seminar at Harvard Business School a few years ago where sustainability was defined as "leadership" and "responsibility." A business must set its direction placing the principles of sustainability at its very heart—its purpose, mission, strategy, goals, values, and responsibilities. It must then create a corporate context and culture in which its actions are economically, legally, and ethically sound.
 

By meeting each of these three criteria in all of its business actions, an organization can legitimately claim to be sustainable. And indeed as we have already seen, ethical requirements frequently become legal requirements over time as societal opinion moves to embrace a more sustainable approach to the way we do business.

This is ultimately in agreement with the Brundtland Commission's mission to unite countries to pursue sustainable development together—development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. 

EUROPEAN TISSUE INDUSTRY 

So how is the European Tissue industry shaping up? The sector is working continuously to increase its sustainability across a host of different areas including recycling, recovery, transport, water, and workplace safety. There are some well-established initiatives and also some exciting new projects being developed and likely to herald the future direction for the sector.

We are immensely proud of our most recent initiative in the area of forest certification. This is a crucial development for the sector and offers reassurance to our customers and consumers while also lending further credibility to the sector.

ETS supports the use of fibers from sustainably and legally managed forests and encourages the use of third party certification as one of the best ways to ensure that suppliers meet these requirements. We do not favor any single scheme but support the various international and national forest certification schemes that offer third party verification or certification of compliance.

 Customers have welcomed the certification of fibers and we are committed to supporting the sustainable management of forests based on responsible forest management, social responsibility, and economic viability. We also encourage the development of standards, performance measures, and continual improvement in best practices for forest ecosystems.

We use the definition of ‘Sustainable Forest Management’ agreed at the Second Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe, held in Helsinki in 1993: "The stewardship and use of forests and forest lands in a way and at a rate that maintains their biodiversity, productivity, regeneration capacity, vitality, and their potential to fulfill now and in the future, relevant ecological, economic, and social functions at local, national, and global levels, and that does not cause damage to other eco-systems."

ETS has particularly welcomed the new EU Timber Regulation that came into force in 2013 and ensures that only products from legally sourced wood are sold across the EU28. The members of ETS have for some years committed to using only fibers from legal and sustainable source. 

Europe leads the world in paper recycling with levels at more than 70% in 2012– up from 40% in 1995.  While paper consumption levels are the same today as in 1998, recycling levels are 150% higher. In Europe, a paper fiber is collected and recycled on average 3.5 times, compared with just 2.4 times worldwide. ETS are members of the European Recovered Paper Council, committed to meet a voluntary recycling target of 70% in the EU, plus Switzerland and Norway by 2015 – a level already achieved today and higher than any other region in the world.

I should stress though that life cycle analysis (LCA) studies show sustainable tissue products can be produced with both recovered and new fibers, and that each has its benefits and shortcomings. Experts have carried out carbon footprint studies on toilet tissue that prove that the decision to use either fiber type does not significantly alter the carbon footprint and that neither fiber type can be considered environmentally preferable when considering carbon emissions.

 

Total environmental impacts depend on a number of factors including location of the mill, closeness of available fibers, energy options, and production waste utilization, and these should be reviewed on a case by case basis. It is for this reason that we advocate a total life cycle approach to understand the environmental impact of our products. We are not in favor of carbon footprint labeling for our products as it measures just one environmental impact and so can be potentially misleading for consumers. However we are following with great interest the EU project to establish Product and Organization environmental footprints as these should encompass all of the environment impacts and overcome the weakness in carbon footprinting. 

Thanks to sophisticated new technologies, the tissue industry increasingly uses recycled fibers in products without compromising on softness, strength and absorbency. Companies are innovating using recycled fibers or environmentally friendly fibers from plants that grow well and are able to offer products that are similar to virgin fiber ones.

The very latest development is that industry leaders are actively exploring opportunities to recycle paper towels. Research is ongoing but could lead to some exciting breakthroughs for our industry in contributing to Europe’s status as paper recycling world champion.

The most effective way to recover used materials is to not generate waste in the first place. A great deal of work is being undertaken in paper mills across Europe to minimize wastage— in the production processes, in the cutting of the paper, and in the way machinery and forklifts are used. Efforts seek to minimize damage and thus wastage in the handling of tissue products, and the industry is also developing more absorbent products that hence reduce usage.  Conservation of water is a key global concern and companies in the tissue sector increasingly operate fully closed production loops to reuse water—although they have to evaluate whether this is the most cost-efficient option in the more water abundant countries of northern Europe.
 

Trade customers and consumers are increasingly aware of the need to save and conserve. They are particularly keen on packaging reduction, and industry members have taken a number of initiatives to make products more compact. This pleases retailers as they take up less shelf space in stores, and pleases customers as they are less bulky to store at home. Larger rolls—twice the length of a standard roll—which  saves on packaging, transport, and storage costs, have been available for a number of years and are now being extended more widely, including into private label.

ETS has also undertaken transport studies to look at truck utilization and content optimization to be more economic and energy efficient. And the industry hasn’t stopped there. We also look at recycled plastics for the outer wrappings to ensure that every stage of the production chain is conscious of the impact it has on the environment. 

Looking to the future, our industry will continue to push the boundaries in re-utilization techniques and even surpass some of the excellent work being done today. I believe we will develop ever more efficient and effective paper production and converting technology and perhaps machines will be more compact and so located closer to the final customer.
  

I would also hope that we will work to further limit our energy waste, promote renewable sources, and reduce the miles traveled by our products. Some promising new work already is taking place in the area of wind energy generation, with wind turbines being located in forests on the tops of hills where they are away from people and in low-yield locations.
 

My dream of course is that future innovations will provide the planet with unlimited quantities of low cost, low impact energy. This would enable us to develop the ideal toilet roll—soft, absorbent, resistant, very long, pleasantly decorated, made with recycled fibers, and at a price that is accessible to the vast majority of people.  

I am excited about what we have achieved so far in driving the principles of sustainability throughout our sector. And I am optimistic about the future and where innovation and a determination to do even better can lead us. But we are not complacent. The European tissue industry is committed to helping people to achieve a better quality of life by delivering optimal hygiene that supports human health. Unless we are able to improve, or at the very least uphold our standards of excellent, then we cannot justify the term "sustainable."

ETS was founded in 1971 and is based in Brussels, Belgium.  Members of ETS represent the majority of tissue paper producers throughout Europe and around 90% of the total European tissue production. More information is available online.

Wood costs for the global pulp industry have trended downward in a majority of the pulp-producing regions of the world the past two years, according to the Wood Resource Quarterly (WRQ), Seattle, Wash., USA. This is primarily due to lower market pulp prices as well as reduced pulp production and increased supply of wood fiber in some regional markets, WRQ notes.
 

As the costs of energy, labor, and chemicals have changed relatively less than those of wood fiber during the past year, wood cost as a percentage of total pulp production costs have fallen. In the 2Q/13, wood fiber costs accounted for slightly more than 59% of the production costs on a worldwide basis, down from approximately 63% in the 2Q/12, but up from 51% in 2006, according to Fisher International.
 

Although wood fiber prices have trended downward for most of the past few years, softwood fiber prices were actually up from the previous quarter in the 3Q/13 in most countries worldwide, with just a few exceptions including Sweden, Brazil, and Australia. The largest price increases were seen in the U.S. South, Germany, France, and Spain. 

WRQ reports that the Softwood Fiber Price Index (SFPI) edged up to $97.94/odmt in the 3Q/13. This was $0.19/odmt higher than in the previous quarter but more than 10% lower than two years ago. 

The Hardwood Fiber Price Index (HFPI) fell for the fourth consecutive quarter to $98.15/odmt in the 3Q/13. This was down 2.3% from the previous quarter and the lowest level since the 2Q/09. The biggest price declines have been in Asia and Latin America, while wood costs in Europe, Russia, and North America have continued to be relatively stable the past year. In just two years, the HFPI has fallen by almost 17%. 

Russia’s production of wood pulp and pulp from fibrous materials decreased by 6.7% in January through November of 2013, year-over-year, totaling 6.6 million metric tons, according to the Federal Customs Service of Russia. Paper production for the reporting period decreased by 2.1% to 4.3 million metric tons, while paperboard output increased by 0.3% to 2.8 million metric tons. 

Ahlstrom Corp., Finland, will sell its shares of Brazil-based Ahlstrom Fabricação de Não-Tecidos Ltda to Suominen, also of Finland. Ahlstrom sold its wipes business, the Home and Personal business area, to Suominen in 2011, but the transfer of the Paulínia plant in Brazil (a producer of wipes) was prolonged due to delays in certain required official permissions and subsequent renegotiations between Suominen and Ahlstrom. The enterprise value of the transaction is agreed at EUR 17.5 million. Suominen will finance the acquisition through a convertible hybrid bond issue with a nominal value of EUR 17.5 million.

The Paulinia plant is located approximately 120 km northwest of São Paulo. It was built in 2008 and employs approximately 40 people. All employees will be transferred to Suominen at the closing of the transaction, which is expected to take place this month.

"We are very pleased that the transfer of Ahlstrom Paulínia and consequently the divestment of our wipes business to Suominen will now be completed. In accordance with our new strategy, Ahlstrom focuses on high performance fiber-based products that aim for a clean and healthy environment," said Jan Lång, president and CEO, Ahlstrom.

Altai Capital Management LP, New York, N.Y., USA, has joined Starboard Value LP, New York, N.Y., in its push for changes at Wausau Paper Corp., Mosinee, Wis. Altai now has some 2.7 million shares, or 5.5% of Wausau Paper, according to a recent regulatory filing. The hedge fund said it intends to discuss proposed board changes with Starboard and the company.
 

Starboard, the largest shareholder in Wausau, in January nominated three directors to the board and said the company should replace its management or seek a sale because of underperformance (see Wausau’s response in the article below in this section). The fund, which has been trying to make changes at the company for the past 2 1/2 years and already has four directors on the nine-person board, is demanding the return of more cash to investors, cost cuts, and an improvement in management focus. 

Wausau sold its specialty-paper segment last year and in 2012 divested a group of brands including Astrobrights and Royal. The stock, which has gained 38% in the past year, fell 0.5% to $13.42 at the close in New York, giving it a market capitalization of $664 million. 

Cascades, Kingsey Falls, Que., Canada, North America's fourth largest producer of towel and tissue paper, was awarded "Environmental Strategy of the Year" at the 2013 PPI Awards in Dubai. In addition, the Cascades  Moka ® product line won the company a second award for "Innovative Product of the Year." 

Mario Plourde, president and CEO of Cascades, said that "we are honored to receive these awards for our Cascades Moka line and for our commitment to sustainable development. Leadership in sustainability and innovation has always been in the heart of everything we do at Cascades; it is part of our DNA. This award is an affirmation that Cascades is leading the way for the industry, both for its novel product offering and processes." 

Suzanne Blanchet, president and CEO of Cascades Tissue Group, added that "this success was made possible by the contribution of our valued employees and partners, with whom we want to share this award."
 

The "Innovative Product of the Year" award was presented to the Cascades Moka product line, the first ever bathroom and facial tissue made from unbleached recycled fiber to hit the North American market. The Cascades Moka tissue products were praised by offering softness and hygiene qualities while significantly reducing environmental impact.

The "Environmental Strategy of the Year" award was based on Cascades' commitment to reducing its ecological impact through the continuous improvement of its processes, unique recycling infrastructure, and use of recycled fibers in packaging and tissue products. Cascades led the way in environmental reporting with its 2010-2012 and 2013-2015 sustainable development plans, which include objectives to improve environmental impact in every step of production, distribution, and waste processing. These advances have enabled Cascades to use five times less water and two times less energy than the North American paper industry average. 

Clearwater Paper Corp., Spokane, Wash., USA, has authorized the repurchase of up to $100 million of the company's common stock. This authorization follows the successful completion of the company's previous $100 million stock repurchase authorization that was implemented in January 2013. Clearwater expects to fund the repurchases through available cash resources. 

The announcement "reflects our positive outlook on our business, continued confidence in our future cash generation capabilities, and commitment to return capital to shareholders," said Linda K. Massman, president and CEO. "At the same time, we remain committed to maintaining a strong balance sheet and financial position. Since beginning our stock repurchase programs in 2011, we have returned $130 million to our shareholders."
 

The repurchase program authorizes the company to purchase its common stock from time to time through open market purchases, negotiated transactions, or other means, including accelerated stock repurchases and 10b5-1 trading plans. 

Clearwater produces consumer tissue, away-from-home tissue, parent roll tissue, machine glazed tissue, bleached paperboard, and pulp at 14 manufacturing locations in the U.S. and Canada. The company is a supplier of private label tissue to major retailers and wholesale distributors.

Green Innovations Ltd. and its subsidiary Green Hygienics Inc., Cape Coral, Fla., USA, announced this past week that Albertsons has placed the first order for Sensational® bamboo bath tissue and kitchen towels for distribution in its 115 stores located throughout the southwestern U.S.

"Albertsons has answered the call to 'Go Greenest' with Green Hygienics' Sensational bamboo line," said Jeff Thurgood, VP of Sales for Green Hygienics. "Consumers looking for truly environmentally sustainable and eco-friendly products that are even greener than recycled can now turn to Albertsons for their chance to join the 'go greenest' movement." 

Some benefits of bamboo-based paper products, according to Green Hygenics, include:

• Bamboo groves releases 35% more oxygen into the air than a similar-sized stand of trees 
• Bamboo matures within seven years, compared with 30-50 years for a normal stand of trees 
• Bamboo improves soil conditions and prevent erosion 
• Bamboo is so fast-growing that it can yield 20 times more "timber" than normal trees.

Green Hygenics adds that the smooth texture and strength of paper products made from all-natural bamboo makes it ideal for bath tissue, facial tissues, kitchen towels, and more. The company plans to continue to develop and launch other products made from bamboo.

ICT Group, Lucca. Italy, reports that it is considering a new investment for its ICT Poland mill located in the town of Kostrzyn, just 90 km east of Berlin, Germany. The investment would include a new 70,000 metric tpy tissue machine, additional converting equipment, and related logistic and civil infrastructure.

Currently, ICT Poland has some 400 employees and produces 140,000 metric tpy of finished products. Because of its "world class" operations, ICT Poland is considered to be one of the most modern and efficient tissue mills in the world. Since September 2010, the plant also includes a highly efficient, fully automatic warehouse for stocking and shipping its finished products.

The new machine would eventually be an addition to ICT Poland’s first two tissue machines stated up in 2001 and 2008. The future site would therefore need additional personnel to operate the three full width tissue machines and the fully integrated converting hall downstream.

The ICT Group currently is evaluating several investment options in different countries. However, should the decision for the investment finally fall on Poland, the startup date for the new machine is estimated to be in third quarter of 2015.

ICT Group has production companies in Italy, Spain, Poland, and France. The current combined capacity is approximately 470.000 metric tpy and the company has approximately 1,300 employees.

Leal Indústria e Comércio de Papéis, Brazil, is installing a 5,400 metric tpy tissue and low basis weight gloss paper machine at its mill in Ibema, Brazil. The machine, according to a RISI (Brussels, Belgium) report is scheduled to startup by the end of this month. The company is investing some Real 4.5 million in the new PM 2, which is a used machine acquired from a supplier called Trópico’s, the RISI report noted. 

Leal has an existing 9,600 metric tpy industrial paper machine (PM 1) at the Ibema mill that was rebuilt in mid-2012, involving a Real 3 million investment. As reported by RISI, the company reactivated PM 1 after closing a leasing agreement with Brazilian boxboard producer Ibema. The company currently supplies paper to the domestic market, and is developing other products for export. 

Metsä Tissue, part of Metsä Group, Finland, is continuing its work on lowering carbon dioxide emissions and improving energy efficiency in tissue manufacturing. The Sustainable Low Carbon Tissue Manufacturing (SLCTM) project is part of Metsä Group’s work on improving its energy efficiency by 10% by the year 2020.

The project’s main target is to develop ready-to-implement concepts for reducing specific, direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and for improving the productivity of tissue manufacturing. The project ran from 2012 to 2013 with the support of more than EUR 400,000 from the European Commission’s Sustainable Industry Low Carbon Scheme (SILC). The project has progressed according to plans, with encouraging results.

The SLCTM project, carried out in cooperation with engineering office Neumeister, has gathered experimental data from Metsä Tissue’s production units in Finland, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, and Sweden in 2012 and made the thermodynamic analysis in 2013. The final project report with general applicable guidelines will be published this spring.

The Marcal tissue mill sign in Elmwood Park, N.J., USA, came back to life recently, after being turned off for almost five years. Soundview Paper Co., which acquired the Marcal Paper Mills in April 2012, wanted to have the sign lighted for the 2014 Super Bowl at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. According to a report by a local newspaper, The Record, the Marcal sign was erected in 1948 and is a prominent feature for motorists traveling on Route 80. The plant’s former owner turned the sign off in 2009, and during the past month, Soundview has been refurbishing it.

Relighting the sign also was a way to celebrate Soundview’s efforts to rebuild the Marcal name, the brand of the company’s toilet tissue, paper towels, and facial products, Soundview President and CEO George Wurtz said in the newspaper article.

Since purchasing the financially struggling Marcal for an undisclosed sum, Soundview, part of Atlas Holdings, has been stabilizing the company and positioning it for growth, Wurtz said. Soundview abandoned the Small Steps branding that the former owner had instituted, and has redesigned the products’ packaging and reopened old channels of distribution, such as producing private-label paper towels for The Home Depot.

Since the purchase, Soundview was awarded $25.4 million in tax credits for the mill from the state Economic Development Authority, through the Grow New Jersey Program, that helped retain 500 jobs. During the past 20 months, Soundview has made nearly $10 million in improvements at the plant. It has also boosted productivity by 20% and sales have increased 19%, Wurtz noted.

Marcal ran into financial difficulty in 2006, and filed for Chapter 11 protection. It was subsequently bought by Highland Capital Management in 2008. The company debuted Marcal Small Steps, made from 100% recycled material, in December of that year. Soundview’s view that this repositioning was supposed to signify taking "small steps" to a healthier environment, was actually a misstep, John McLean, Soundview’s SVP of sales and marketing, was quoted in the article.

Wausau Paper, Mosinee, Wis., USA, issued a statement this week in response to an announcement by Starboard Value LP that it has nominated a slate of three directors for election to Wausau’s Board of Directors at the company’s 2014 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. The company stated that: "Under our current management and board, Wausau Paper has completed a successful strategic transformation into a pure play tissue company that is delivering strong volumes, margin expansion, earnings, and free cash flow growth. The company has excellent forward momentum and our stock price has increased approximately 40% over the past year. Our board is unanimously supportive of the company’s strategy and management team, and is fully committed to creating further value and acting in the best interests of our shareholders. 

"While we always appreciate input from shareholders, we were surprised and disappointed by Starboard’s actions. Over the past two years, we have tried to work constructively with Starboard and have already added four of their nominees to our nine-person board. However, we believe that it is disproportionate and inappropriate that Starboard – which holds only 15% of our shares – should be able to designate the majority of the board, as would result if their new nominees were elected. The company expects to communicate further with shareholders in due course." 

Wausau Paper produces a complete line of away-from-home towel and tissue products.

Yuen Foong Yu Corp. (YFY), China, and PMP Group, Poland, have been working together for the past six years in the tissue business. After designing seven tissue machines for three Yuen Foong facilities in China, both companies report that they have reached a higher level of cooperation.

Earlier this month, PM 5 and PM 6 at YFY’s Yangzhou (China) facility achieved an impressive capacity increase. The PMP Intelli-Tissue® 1500 machines, with a maximum operating speed of 1,600 m/min, were brought on stream in the summer of 2012. Both machines were designed to produce 75 metric tpd each. However, thanks to parameter optimization of the machines, it was possible to enhance the capacity to 96.7 metric tpd on PM 5 and 84.3 metric tpd on PM 6. Reaching the speed record of 1,700 m/min. has enhanced the daily capacity up to a combined 17%, with basis weight at the wire of 14.1 gsm and 12.3 gsm, respectively. 

In 2012, Ming-Fa Tang, the YFY deputy GM of Engineering & Technology, said that it was the fastest assembly and startup in the history of YFY, meaning that YFY’s PM 5 and PM 6 were not only the fastest in installation, they are literally among the fastest machines in the company’s entire fleet. 

Currently, YFY and PMP Group are in the middle of an execution phase for the four PMP Intelli-Tissue 1500 machines for the company’s Yangzhou and Dingfung tissue mills. Both YFY and PMP say they are eager to raise the bar on those projects after achieving exceptional results with PM 5 and PM 6 at Yangzhou.

Kennedy Integrated Hygiene Solutions, U.K., has launched  a new mechanical auto-cut paper towel dispenser, known as Paper POD, that provides single use paper portions for hygienic hand drying. The unit’s Reserve System, with its built-in stub roll loading mechanism, allows a new roll to be loaded into the dispenser before the previous roll has been fully used.
 

When the stub roll has been fully used, the mechanism transfers to the new full size roll. The Reserve System prevents the paper from running out at the end of the roll, and ensures that no unused paper remains on the stub roll. Paper wastage is eliminated, leading to a reduction of paper consumption by up to 20%, the company says.

The POD has been designed to accommodate a large variety of paper rolls available on the market—various roll lengths, diameters, widths, and paper thickness of 1-ply or 2-ply.
 

More information is available by emailing Kennedy Sales. 

Voith, Germany, reports that its TissueFlex XD press fabric for tissue production "has very good saturation for maximum dewatering." The fabric is produced with a lower caliper offering faster break-in times, allowing the machine to reach higher productivity sooner. At the same time, TissueFlex XD has a resilient structure, so that the key properties of the fabric are maintained over a long period. 

Voith explains that, over time, the operating speeds of tissue machines have increased substantially. "Press fabrics like TissueFlex XD meet these more demanding requirements. Despite its low thickness, the structure of TissueFlex XD remains stable, even at high operating speeds. The tissue manufacturer can expect high runability and increased productivity," the company says.

Thinner press fabrics often have the drawback that they quickly drop in performance due to wear, compaction, and contamination, Voith adds, pointing out, however, that this is not the case with TissueFlex XD. Voith has incorporated a unique non-woven layer that retains the properties of the fabric for a long time and delivers consistent performance. The special needling of the base, batt, and non-woven layers also reduces wear and achieves a smooth tissue surface. The combined layers produce an even pressure for efficient drying. TissueFlex XD can also reduce energy consumption, Voith notes.

Motion Industries, Birmingham, Ala., USA, has released a new video on its "MiHow2" series of product/application solutions. The instructive video series’ goal is to share practical industrial applications that viewers can adapt in their own facilities.
 

Motion’s division Mi Mill Services assisted in the filming of "How to Install a Universal Driveshaft Assembly." Mi Mill Services specializes in the build, repair, and supply of a variety of universal joints, shaft assemblies, and hydraulic/pneumatic components. The video http://www.mihow2.com can be viewed online.
 

"This is a great illustration of how just a few degrees of misalignment can negatively affect a driveshaft’s performance and reliability," said Randy Breaux, Motion Industries’ SVP of marketing, product management and strategic planning. "It’s crucial for a plant or mill to know the alignment criteria for proper installation, to help avoid unplanned downtime."

Each MiHow2 video was filmed in a workshop setting, and features the Motion Industries host with a guest from one of the market-leading industrial manufacturers—or in this case one of Motion’s own experts—demonstrating a product or application. The series is also available for viewing via Facebook, Engineering TV, and YouTube. Additional MiHow2 videos are scheduled to be posted in coming weeks.  

With annual sales of $4.5 billion, Motion Industries is an industrial parts distributor of bearings, mechanical power transmission, electrical and industrial automation, hydraulic and industrial hose, hydraulic and pneumatic components, industrial products, safety products, and material handling.  

A new educational guide from Spraying Systems Co., Wheaton, Ill., USA, explains how to optimize performance and lower costs in cleaning, coating, cooling, and lubricating operations using spray technology. The comprehensive handbook, Optimizing Your Spray System, covers the use of spray technology from system specification, installation, operation, and maintenance through optimization.

 

The costs associated with using spray nozzles and systems that are not optimized can be staggering, Spraying Systems notes. The handbook explains how under-performing spray equipment can often go undetected and cost manufacturers tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. Readers will learn how quality problems and significant waste of costly chemicals, water, and energy can result from spray equipment problems.

 

The handbook provides detailed information on how to detect costly spray system problems that are not usually found during a visual inspection and outlines steps for troubleshooting and resolution. Also included are guidelines and checklists for monitoring and maintenance procedures to help ensure trouble-free, efficient operation. 

The value of assessing spray equipment that appears to be operating properly is also addressed. The handbook explains why even small changes in operating conditions may improve performance, how adding a spray controller can improve precision and throughput, and when new spray technology should be considered.

 

Plant, production, and maintenance engineers involved with a wide range of operations that use spray technology will find this handbook a valuable reference guide. Optimizing Your Spray System is free and can be downloaded online , or obtained by calling 1-800-95-SPRAY. 

The spring meeting of the YDS&RC will be held April 30–May 1 at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Nashville, Tenn., USA, immediately following the TAPPI Tissue360° Forum.  The agenda will include subcommittee meetings (April 30) on: 

• Yankee Dryer Bearings (Chair: Scott Thompson, Airtherm)   
• Steam and Condensate Systems (Chair: Yee Tak Ngan, Swagelok)  
• Yankee Hoods/Cylinders and Air Systems (Chair: Neil Arafat, Enerquin) 
• Yankee Surface Reliability (Chair: Sam Archer, Nalco).

The full committee meeting will be held on May 1, with discussions about safe operating practices and technical challenges to operating yankee dryers. More information  is available online.