Modernising for the future: Metsä Board drives forward with major upgrades to Simpele mill

The packaging industry is experiencing an unprecedented change: there is a strong push from both consumers and regulators for more sustainable solutions. As a result, brand owners have set ambitious targets for increasing the share of recyclable and fibre-based packaging. In order to achieve these targets, they need the help of the entire packaging value network; this is a huge opportunity for everyone involved. “The ultimate purpose of packaging is to protect the product during delivery and keep the contents safe to use. With many foods, for example, this means that packaging needs to offer protection against moisture or grease. Today these properties are typically achieved using plastic structures, but we are now working on fibre-based solutions that can satisfy these requirements, while offering additional benefits for climate and recycling,” says Janne Varvemaa, Director, Products and Technology at UPM Specialty Papers.

Mondi has brought together industry leaders in an expert round table to discuss how to improve the circularity of used paper bags in the construction industry. The event looked at how to build systems that will prevent the disposal of used paper bags, working towards implementing a process of efficient collection, sorting, and recycling that can be managed on an industrial scale. The partners attending were representatives from different parts of the value chain, namely Mondi, Envalora, Neinor Homes, OHLA, Arpada, Macotran, RCD Asociacion, S. Solís, Uder, Alier, Saint-Gobain and CoCircular. These like-minded industry leaders share a vision of boosting the circularity of paper bags used in the construction industry and see collaboration and stakeholder dialogue as a critical activity to achieve this.

Klabin, the largest producer and exporter of packaging paper and sustainable paper packaging solutions in Brazil , held, today (21/9), the inauguration ceremony of Puma II, a project that marked the expansion of the Puma Unit, in Ortigueira (PR). This is the largest investment in the Company's history and the largest private investment ever made in the State of Paraná. With an investment of R$12.9 billion for the installation of two new paper machines, the MP27 and MP28, both in operation and with a total production capacity of 910 thousand tons of paper per year, Puma II reinforces the integrated business model , diversified and flexible company. Announced in 2019, the Puma II Project is part of Klabin's biggest growth cycle in its 124-year history. The first phase, completed in August 2021, included the construction and start-up of Paper Machine 27 (MP27), which manufactures the innovative Eukaliner®, the world's first kraftliner paper made 100% with eucalyptus fiber.