Discovery Paper Hosts Webinar: “Discover the Way of the Eco Switch”

UPM celebrated the official start of the construction of the state-of-the-art biochemicals facility in Leuna, Germany. The biorefinery investment of EUR 550 million is a major milestone in UPM’s strategic transformation. In Leuna, UPM will produce a range of 100% wood-based biochemicals that enable a switch from fossil-based products to sustainable alternatives in a number of end-uses such as plastics, textiles, cosmetics and industrial applications. Technology and process have been developed by UPM over the past ten years, mainly building on the company’s own innovation capabilities and selectively working with international partners. The biorefinery is expected to start up by the end of 2022.The investment has been awarded The Bio Act of the Year 2020 by the World BioEconomy Forum earlier in September this year.

Kimberly-Clark Corporation announced that it is notifying customers in the U.S. and Canada of plans to increase net selling prices across a majority of its North America consumer products business. The increases will be implemented almost entirely through changes in list prices and are necessary to help offset significant commodity cost inflation. The percentage increases are in the mid-to-high single digits. Nearly all of the increases will be effective in late June and impact the company's baby and child care, adult care and Scott bathroom tissue businesses.

Sappi Europe’s Kirkniemi Mill in Lohja, Finland, has successfully made the switch from using fossil fuels to renewable energy to fuel the production of the Galerie paper range. A €16.5 million investment into state-of-the-art facilities and machinery for the reception, storage and handling of biofuels is the latest in a string of efforts by Sappi in meeting its Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi)-approved emissions reduction goal across all its regions. Biomass residues such as bark, sawdust and wood chips, largely locally sourced, now fuel the Kirkniemi Mill Galerie paper operations, setting the stage for a 90% reduction in direct fossil greenhouse gas emissions. This upgrade now works alongside the multi-fuel boiler built in 2015, enabling the mill to reduce nearly 230,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually. This means that Kirkniemi Mill is now able to reduce the carbon footprint of the Galerie paper range by 40%. All this comes as part of a longstanding sustainability focus at Kirkniemi that has, in recent years, brought continuous improvements in environmental performance across areas including freshwater usage, emissions to watercourses and energy efficiency.