LC Paper has a strategy to mitigate all impacts of papermaking, including energy supply, raw materials and logistics.
In 2017, it implemented a 4,6 megawatt peak on-site solar plant complemented with renewable electricity from the grid; a few years later biomass and biomethane boilers were installed to decarbonise low- and high-temperature process heat.
A special folding box board was developed to replace plastic shrink wrap for toilet roll retail packs. The virgin fibre raw materials originate exclusively from sustainably-managed forests with relevant certification.
The last big challenge was to recover high quality pulp from heterogeneous paper for recycling. LC Paper developed and implemented advanced processes to iteratively separate a variety of impurities (staples, clips, plastic windows in envelopes) and non-paper components (beverage cans, pieces of metal and plastic, organic waste). The very efficient and effective separation stages resulted in up to 18% more usable fibres for papermaking than the traditional processes.
The process consists of several different advanced filters and material separators that iteratively classify the materials and sizes with a much higher degree of precision and fine tuning than equivalent classic processes, responding to the heterogeneous reality of recycled packaging versus the more homogeneous nature of copy and print paper, which was the main source of recycled paper some years ago.
The lower consumption of post-consumer waste for the same amount of usable paper pulp is crucial considering the limited availability of paper for recycling.
The advanced separation process facilitates further valorisation of the non-paper components, and increases their circularity. The project adapts to a changing social reality: we print less paper and we read less printed books and newspapers, but we use more cardboard packaging.
“We achieve better sustainability practices on multiple fronts: firstly, a reduction of CO2 emissions per tonne of paper due to the optimisation of the input weight to output weight ratio and the reduction in untreatable waste due to misclassifications. We also support an increased circularity: very degraded recycling mixes which could not be processed by any plant until now had to go to landfill, whereas now we will be able to raise that acceptance threshold thanks to the increased complexity of the technical solution we are implementing.”
Sergi Alvarez
Technical Manager, LC Paper
The Project’s Achievements:
Investment
5 million euros, co-funded by Next Generation European funds
(“PERTE Circularidad” handled by the Ministry of Environmental Transition of Spain).
CO2 emissions saved
610 kilotonnes CO2 equivalent per year.
Any other sustainable benefits
Savings of raw material (less post-consumer recycled waste used for the same weight of produced paper) and better sorting of non-paper waste.
