AF&PA Releases August 2024 Printing-Writing Monthly Report

Paper Excellence Canada announced it has donated $50,000 to the Canadian Red Cross. A majority of the donation will support ongoing emergency management operations in British Columbia and Saskatchewan, while a donation of $20,000 was made earlier this fall to Nova Scotia Red Cross in response to Hurricane Fiona. Paper Excellence Canada currently has operations in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Nova Scotia. “The Red Cross is a constant, comforting presence across the world, but that is especially true here at home in Canada, so we are very pleased to be supporting the Red Cross in the provinces where Paper Excellence Canada operates,” said Graham Kissack, Vice President EH&S and Corporate Communications for Paper Excellence Canada.

Skutskär Mill in eastern Sweden is a modern pulp mill focusing on the production of fluff pulp for absorbent hygiene products such as diapers, other hygiene products and air-laid nonwovens. Skutskär Mill has a long history of continuously reducing the environmental footprint of its operations and products. Skutskär Mill started production already in 1895 with an annual capacity of only 6,000 tonnes of pulp. Today the mill’s annual capacity has reached 545,000 tonnes. As production has grown, so have Stora Enso’s goals for improving the mill’s environmental footprint. During the years, many steps have been taken towards Skutskär Mill becoming a carbon neutral mill. Today this goal is very close to becoming reality. Today, all the energy, heat and power produced at Skutskär Mill is based on biofuels. Recent measurements made in December 2021 showed that the mill was also 93% self-sufficient in electricity. At times, the mill is able to sell excess energy to the national grid as production exceeds the mill’s own needs.

The American Forest & Paper Association released the 61st Paper Industry Capacity and Fiber Consumption Report, indicating overall U.S. paper and paperboard capacity declined 1.6 percent in 2020, compared to the average decline of 1.1 percent per year since 2011. Notably in 2020, containerboard capacity expanded, continuing a decade-long trend, and reaching a record high of 40.4 million tons. Tissue paper capacity has also been trending upward, increasing for the past five years, as well as eight of the last 10 years. Meanwhile, U.S. mill consumption of recovered fiber reached the second-highest level in the past decade. The increase was driven by mill consumption of corrugated, the largest grade of recovered fiber, which reached a record high of 22.8 million tons in 2020. Boxboard was the only packaging grade to decline last year, however survey responses indicate a slight rebound in 2021.