Iggesund Aims for Zero Fossil Fuel Emissions

Source from:  Tobacco Reporter 05/21/2010

The Holmen Group's management board has given the go-ahead for a ?238 million investment for a new recovery boiler at Iggesund Mill that will considerably strengthen the company's flagship product , Invercote. In addition to the recovery boiler, the investment package also includes a new turbine plus equipment for capturing and incinerating weak, sulphur-containing gases-something that will further reduce the mill's airborne emissions. "This investment is important both strategically and structurally. It will give us greater energy efficiency, enable us to be self-sufficient in electricity, and give us a production process that is completely free from any fossil fuel use," says mill manager Staffan Jonsson. For Iggesund Mill, the new investment is a key step towards realizing the mill's long-term development plan. Fundamental to this plan is to have a production process that uses renewable raw materials and a product that can be recycled both as a material and as energy. The plan also states that emissions to air and water should be global leaders in terms of purity, and that the mill should be self-sufficient in electricity and operate 100 percent on biofuel. "We're very close to our goal now," Jonsson says. "With a new recovery boiler and the other new measures we're also improving our overall environmental performance and further reducing our impact on the local environment. With the new recovery boiler we are leaping forward in terms of technology, and the result will definitely be clear improvements to our work environment." The investment in a new recovery boiler will not lead to any increase in paperboard production but the mill's pulp production capacity will gradually increase from today's 355,000 annual tons to 420,000. Iggesund Mill has one of the highest levels of investment in the world for paperboard mills and aims to produce the highest quality paperboard with excellent quality consistency. "We've been the quality leader for many years," Jonsson says. "In today's market, sustainability issues are increasingly important as a competitive tool. In this respect, the Swedish forest industry in general and Iggesund in particular have a strong position versus both our competitors and other materials." Building the recovery boiler is estimated to take two years. The work will employ about 100 people for the first six months and then between 700 and 1,000 construction workers and specialists for another 18 months. Enditem