Eucalyptus is a genus encompassing about 700 species of shrubs and trees. Depending on the species and your point of view, eucalypti are either invasive species that threaten our water supply or incredibly productive species that are being used to disrupt traditional pulp markets.

The recent announcement of the permanent closure of the pulp and paper mill in Powell River, BC, which had been idled since 2021, evoked some nostalgic thoughts about the many mill closures in the Canadian industry over the last half century.

If you’ve walked through a lot of paper mills you’ve probably seen a lot of waste heat emitted. Most paper mills try to recover some of this heat using heat exchangers.

Fibre moulding is an area that is developing rapidly, not least because new technologies enable the manufacture of products with properties that can compete with plastic applications.

In my last blog contribution I described the series of large investments that forest industry companies are doing in Sweden and Finland.

In recent years there have been extensive closures of printing paper mills and large investments within the Swedish and Finnish paper and pulp groups. Overall, therefore, their product portfolios have undergone major changes as this blog contribution will show.

In my last blog, I emphasized that Green Chemistry Principles provide useful, actionable ways to drive innovation strategies and accelerate transformation in the pulp and paper (P&P) industry. Here, I will focus on a facilitating technology in the development and implementation of biomolecules, biomaterials, and bioproducts from biorefinery: molecular modeling (MM).

Increased level of pollution worldwide (soil, air and water) calls for urgent action and scalable solutions.

The Kraft pulping process, patented in 1879 and implemented in 1890, has shown resilience for more than 100 years, as it provides higher pulp strength and allows for about 98% of chemicals recovery cycle and energy efficiency.

FPInnovations had another great turnout for its popular Pulp, Paper, and Bioproducts Course which took place this year from October 16 to 20.

View the list of FPInnovations’ most recent reports, publications, and recordings, as well as other items recently made available through the research library.

Three FPInnovations researchers recently published a peer-reviewed paper entitled “Energy saving potential of interstage screen fractionation for production of board grade BCTMP” in TAPPI Journal (August 2023, Vol. 22 No. 8).

This will be my last blog as executive director of PPEC, the environmental council I have run for the past 30 years. Yes, 30 years. Unbelievable how time marches on, isn’t it?

What is it about pizza boxes that they always seem to get singled out for special mention? Is it the guilt we feel at scoffing down all that cheese and pepperoni?

Green visions, aspirational goals, and political grandstanding are all very well in their place. But at some point, we have to be realistic.

The Global Sawlog Prices Index (GSPI) fell 1.6% in the 2Q/23 quarter-over-quarter (QoQ).

During the past three years, prices for hardwood fiber have increased at a much faster rate than for softwood fiber, resulting in the Global Hardwood Fiber Price Index jumping 44%.

Lumber trade has become more global over the past few decades with an increased flow of wood products from forest-rich countries to regions lacking domestic forests to supply the local markets.

Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) applauds the federal government’s decision to include forest biomass conversion technologies for heat and electricity generation in its Clean Technology and Clean Electricity Investment Tax Credits (ITCs).

Countries like Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland continuously demonstrate that responsible governance and environmental stewardship are not mutually exclusive but, in fact, complementary.

As National Forest Week is celebrated across the country, Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) is pleased to announce the winners of its annual Awards of Excellence program.

Planar microwave moisture measurement, since its inception in 2000, continues to develop sophisticated instrumentation tools which greatly expand the utility of the technology into an ever-expanding range of papermaking applications. 

Introduction

As early as 2016, studies were introduced that showed numerous process control benefits that can be realized on paper machines equipped with the EasyScan traversing permeability, water content, and temperature measurement capabilities.

Introduction

In the day-to-day operation of paper machines, little thought is typically applied to carrier rope runs until something changes that affects downtime related to sheet transfers and/or rope replacement.

A large-scale pilot plant at Resolute’s Thunder Bay mill will further develop FPInnovations’ patented process to produce “2G” sugars and hydrolysis lignin (H-lignin) using mechanical refining, mild chemical treatment and enzymatic hydrolysis.

Some companies have latched on to this visualization technology to make at-the-scene maintenance more time-effective and sure. Integration with the Industrial Internet (IoT) is essential to achieve it's full value potential.

Stora Enso and BillerudKorsnäs announce plans to phase in microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) in paperboard products. Lightweight milk cartons with Stora Enso MFC are already market tested.