At Papierfabrik Palm, corrugated case material is produced from 100% selected waste paper in a continuously optimised recycling process.
During the recycling process, it happens that even valuable recycled fibres are filtered out together with the impurities present in the waste paper and thus lost to the process. Therefore it makes sense to design pulping units to the respective strength properties of the used recovered paper.
The "Green Pulping Concept”
The Green Pulping Concept is a new type of pulping technology for recovered paper that will be used at the Aalen-Neukochen mill. The goal of the innovative project is to increase the fibre yield to almost 100% while using less energy. The technical solution behind this optimised recycling process is the "Green Pulping Concept" which combines two pulping technologies.
With an annual production volume of 750,000 tonnes of corrugated case material, Papierfabrik Palm is able to save 7,440 megawatt hours of energy and as a result reduce CO2 emissions by 2,403 tonnes. Due to the high strength of the recycled paper, fewer chemical additives are used and less water is used in the circulation system. This innovative technology is in principle transferable to other paper mills, so that a multiplier effect for the entire industry is possible.
The Environmental Innovation Programme has been instrumental in promoting the first large-scale application of this innovative technology.
Source: Press release BMU zur Förderung energieeffizienter Recyclingverfahren von Altpapier