BillerudKorsnäs has just announced that its Nomination Committee will propose Magnus Nicolin and Florian Heiserer as new members of the Board at the Annual General Meeting in May 2022.

The Nomination Committee is very pleased to propose two new Board members who will complement the Board’s expertise across several areas and in particular with their US and international experience.

Magnus Nicolin was the CEO of Ansell Limited between 2010-2021, an Australia listed global leader in personal protective equipment. Magnus currently holds the position of non-executive Director of FAM AB and has been proposed as Chairman of Munters AB. Prior to joining Ansell, Magnus held several senior management positions in global companies, including as President, EMEA & Asia Pacific of Newell Rubbermaid Inc and as CEO of Esselte Business Systems Inc. He has also held senior positions in Bayer AG, Pitney Bowes Inc. and McKinsey & Company, as well as board positions in Ansell, Esselte, Isaberg-Rapid and Primix. Magnus has lived and worked in the USA for more than 25 years.

Florian Heiserer is the CFO of HKW Group, a long-term investor focusing on the packaging industry and commercial real estate in Europe and the USA. Frapag Beteiligungsholding AG, part of the HKW Group, is currently the second largest shareholder in BillerudKorsnäs. Prior to joining Frapag in 2015, Florian was a Managing Director of Buy-Out Central Europe II Beteiligungs-Invest AG, an Austrian private equity firm, where Florian also served on the Boards of portfolio companies such as Atterbury S.A. and Chemson Polymer-Additive AG.

The Nomination Committee further proposes re-election of current Board members Andrea Gisle Joosen, Bengt Hammar, Jan Svensson, Jan Åström and Victoria Van Camp, and the re-election of Jan Svensson as chairman of the Board. Michael M.F. Kaufmann, Kristina Schauman and Tobias Auchli have declined re-election at the 2022 Annual General Meeting.

The Nomination Committee would like to thank Michael M.F. Kaufmann, Kristina Schauman and Tobias Auchli for their valuable contribution to the company. The committee also wants to express its special gratitude to Michael M.F. Kaufmann, who has served on the Board of BillerudKorsnäs for 17 years. The long-term strategic and industrial focus of Michael has been instrumental to build BillerudKorsnäs into the world-leading provider of primary fibre-based packaging materials that it is today.

The Nomination Committee in BillerudKorsnäs comprises Tomas Flodén, appointed by AMF Pension & Fonder, Michael M.F. Kaufmann, appointed by Frapag Beteiligungsholding AG, Lennart Francke, appointed by Swedbank Robur fonder and Thomas Wuolikainen, appointed by Fjärde AP-fonden.

The Nomination Committee’s complete proposals will be presented in the convening notice for BillerudKorsnäs’ Annual General Meeting to be held on 10 May 2022.

Kemira, a global chemicals company, announces price increases for all product lines for all industries in the EMEA region.

Costs for all main raw materials, energy and freight have massively increased during recent months and continue to rise. The surge in costs has been further intensified by the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Significant price increases are necessary for all product lines for all industries in EMEA and will be effective immediately or as contract terms allow. They apply in addition to previous price increases made.

Price increases will vary by product line and geographic region. Details of the required price increases will be communicated to customers via Kemira sales organization.  

Kemira continues to be committed as your long-standing supplier of high-quality products and sustainable solutions for the water intensive industries globally.

Kemira is a global leader in sustainable chemical solutions for water intensive industries. We provide best suited products and expertise to improve our customers’ product quality, process and resource efficiency. Our focus is on pulp & paper, water treatment and energy industry. In 2021, Kemira had annual revenue of around EUR 2.7 billion and around 5,000 employees. Kemira shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd. 
 www.kemira.com 

International technology group ANDRITZ will be presenting its innovative technologies for sustainable tissue production at Tissue World Miami, booth #B20, USA, from March 16 to 18, 2022.

ANDRITZ experts will hold conference speeches at the fair with focus on the following topics:

• First-time use of bio-syngas for drying in the paper industry at Sofidel Sweden (Kisa plant) – presentation together with University of Pisa as technology partner.

• Production of premium tissue grades with innovative TAD (Through-Air Dried) technology with focus on energy savings and cost-efficiency.

• Latest steel Yankee technologies and value-added services for enhanced tissue quality with economical use of resources, and high impact on tissue quality. ANDRITZ’s steel Yankees are real giants with up to 26 ft. in diameter that enable energy-efficient drying with 8-10% better machine performance compared to cast-iron Yankees.

ANDRITZ will present its latest innovations for steel Yankees and TAD tissue production at Tissue World Miami 2022 (booth no. B20)

ANDRITZ is looking forward to meeting you at Tissue World Miami!
Visit https://www.tissueworld.com/miami/en/home.html to register free of charge for the event or contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ANDRITZ GROUP

International technology group ANDRITZ offers a broad portfolio of innovative plants, equipment, systems, services and digital solutions for a wide range of industries and end markets. ANDRITZ is a global market leader in all four of its business areas – Pulp & Paper, Metals, Hydro, and Separation. Technological leadership, global presence and sustainability are the cornerstones of the group’s strategy, which is focused on long-term profitable growth. The publicly listed group has around 26,800 employees and over 280 locations in more than 40 countries.

ANDRITZ PULP & PAPER

ANDRITZ Pulp & Paper provides sustainable technology, automation, and service solutions for the production of all types of pulp, paper, board and tissue. The technologies and services focus on maximum utilization of raw materials, increased production efficiency, lower overall operating costs as well as innovative decarbonization strategies and autonomous plant operation. Boilers for power generation, flue gas cleaning systems, various nonwoven technologies, panelboard (MDF) production systems, as well as recycling and shredding solutions for numerous waste materials also form a part of this business area. State-of-the-art IIoT technologies as part of Metris digitalization solutions complete the comprehensive product offering.

Drain valves comprise up to 20% of all valves in a typical processing plant. But cleaning them is costly, difficult and time-consuming due to long cleaning cycles and the risk of pressure shocks. The new Alfa Laval ThinkTop pulse seat clean addresses all these issues, quickly and effectively making drain valves spotless while delivering savings of up to 95% in Cleaning-in-Place (CIP) liquid.

ThinkTop is raising the bar on water savings yet again. The new pulse seat clean feature does for drain valves what the burst seat clean did in 2019 for mixproof valves. While burst seat clean reduces CIP liquid for mixproof valves by up to 90%, the pulse seat clean cuts drain valve CIP liquid consumption by up to 95%.

More savings, more uptime

Imagine the savings made possible by using this standard automated valve-position feature, triggered by a rising programmable logic controller (PLC) signal and controlled by the Alfa Laval ThinkTop V50 and V70 sensing and control units.

“The ThinkTop pulse seat clean brings unheard-of savings in CIP liquid to process plant owners and operators compared to conventional PLC timer-controlled seat cleaning,” says René Stietz, Product Portfolio Manager, Valves and Automation, Alfa Laval. “Alfa Laval is the first and only valve automation solutions provider to deliver significant savings in CIP liquid for drain valves.”

Faster, more effective pulse cleaning

Short bursts, or pulses, drive the valve cleaning process, activating the valve when shear forces peak. Each position-based pulse takes less than a second, preventing pressure shocks in the system. The pulse creates high turbulent flow as the liquid passes through the narrow gap between the valve house and valve seat, effectively removing all residuals for spotless drain valves.

100% cleaning validation of drain valves

The pulse seat clean makes control and validation of valve cleaning cycles easy. The valve position is not controlled by the PLC timer but by the Alfa Laval ThinkTop. Besides reducing the volume of CIP liquid used, programming the sensor to open and close the seat quickly ensures faster, more rigorous cleaning and hygiene than timer-controlled cleaning. The ThinkTop also verifies that valve cleaning has been completed.

Intended for use with single-seat valves or butterfly valves used as drain valves, pulse seat clean is a standard feature of ThinkTop V50 and V70 sensing and control units with one solenoid valve. Regardless of actuator mode, the drain valve may be configured as a normally open or normally closed shutoff or changeover valve. The pulse seat clean simplifies valve commissioning, prevents pressure shocks, and reduces CIP liquid and time.

To learn more, visit www.alfalaval.com/ThinkTop

This is Alfa Laval

Alfa Laval is active in the areas of Energy, Marine, and Food & Water, offering its expertise, products, and service to a wide range of industries in some 100 countries. The company is committed to optimizing processes, creating responsible growth, and driving progress – always going the extra mile to support customers in achieving their business goals and sustainability targets.

Alfa Laval’s innovative technologies are dedicated to purifying, refining, and reusing materials, promoting more responsible use of natural resources. They contribute to improved energy efficiency and heat recovery, better water treatment, and reduced emissions. Thereby, Alfa Laval is not only accelerating success for its customers, but also for people and the planet. Making the world better, every day. It’s all about Advancing better^TM.

Alfa Laval has 16,700 employees. Annual sales in 2020 were SEK 41.5 billion (approx. EUR 4 billion). The company is listed on Nasdaq OMX.

www.alfalaval.com

With its longstanding experience in the tissue packaging sector and its ecosystem approach, Körber Business Area Tissue, at the Tissue World in Miami, will present new and innovative technological solutions for the North American market to support customers in their continued business growth.

The tissue industry is facing significant pressures in terms of commodity price volatility, competition in global markets and increased demand for product differentiation. This is a highly challenging scenario, especially considering that the environmental impact of the tissue industry must also be increasingly taken into account.

Pete Augustine, President of Körber Business Area Tissue North AmericaTo address the changing needs of both market and customers, Körber is positioning itself as a strategic partner capable of providing comprehensive solutions such as the “Körber ecosystem.” The ecosystem includes all the know-how and expertise of the Group’s various Business Areas, from Supply Chain all the way to the most advanced artificial intelligence software. Thanks to this approach Körber is the only truly integrated and global supplier with an exclusive product portfolio on the market and a global presence.

Körber Business Area Tissue will be present at Tissue World in Miami from 16^th to 18^th March 2022 at stand D20 to present new packaging solutions with technologies that provide the perfect balance between sustainability, efficiency, and profitability.

The American market is characterized by its constant search for automation, efficiency, and new technologies that are capable of creating large format packs, especially as e-commerce is still booming.

Körber's R&D also plays a key role in designing solutions for the packaging of high-performance, automated, easy-to-use tissue products that also allow the development and growth of business related to e-commerce.

A speech by Pete Augustine, President of Körber Business Area Tissue North America, is planned for March 17th at 3.30 pm ET (USA). Among other things he will provide an overview of the latest technological solutions developed by the company in the field of packaging and how they can help tissue manufacturers and converters to develop their business.

These are some of the innovations that will be presented at the event:

• Casmatic A6T XL, a new version of the best-selling wrapper Casmatic A6T, that meets requirements for large tissue packs up to 16”/ 410mm.
• Casmatic Zephyrus, a new modular, flexible and easy to install model that introduces a new concept of sustainable packaging that is suitable for e-commerce sales
• Casmatic CMB270 NA – a bundler designed specifically for the North America market, able to offer greater versatility and speed for the formats that are most in demand in the American market.
• Sam Pack - The exclusive system for automatic monitoring and quality management of primary packaging which, thanks to the use of artificial intelligence, stands out for its precision, reliability and ease of use.

Körber Business Area Tissue

At Körber, our ultimate goal is to empower our customers’ ongoing success. We are the only truly integrated and global provider of advanced solutions for the tissue business. We offer the industry’s most comprehensive portfolio of tissue technology to support customers across the entire value chain — from roll to fold, from converting to packaging. Our advanced, automated, and easy-to-use integrated solutions are a fundamental asset to shape the success in tissue, take our customers operations to the next level, and strengthen their overall financial performance while optimizing their total cost of ownership.

About Körber

We are Körber – an international technology group with about 10,000 employees, more than 100 locations worldwide and a common goal: We turn entrepreneurial thinking into customer success and shape the technological change. In the Business Areas Digital, Pharma, Supply Chain, Tissue and Tobacco, we offer products, solutions and services that inspire. We act fast to customer needs, we execute ideas seamlessly, and with our innovations we create added value for our customers. In doing so, we are increasingly building on ecosystems that solve the challenges of today and tomorrow. Körber AG is the holding company of the Körber Group.

Cepi’s thoughts are with our colleagues and the people of Ukraine who are suffering an unbearable war. Today, we see how the unprovoked and unjustified Russian invasion of Ukraine has become a dramatic wakeup call to strengthen the European Union’s energy security and to build its strategic autonomy. In this context, the forest fibre-based industry offers readily available solutions to address the serious shortcomings of Europe’s dependence on fossil fuels.

In its communication, RePowerEU: Joint European action for more affordable, secure and sustainable energy, the European Commission focuses on reducing Europe’s dependence on energy imports. Access to affordable clean energy is paramount to keep operations in our sector going. For months, the pulp and paper industry has been enduring high energy prices, which are skyrocketing in the recent days. Therefore, the long-overdue actions at both national and EU levels to secure the industry’s future in Europe remain critical. 

Decisionmakers must also realise that Europe needs to address its dependence not only on energy imports, but also on fossil-based materials. The European economy can further minimise its fossil fuel needs by tapping into the potential of bio-based value chains to substitute carbon-intensive materials. To further build the resilience of the European economy, we call on the European Commission to reconsider its approach to renewable, bio-based products. 

The forest fibre-based value chains offer readily available solutions. The upcoming Bioeconomy Strategy will be essential to make this homegrown sector of the European economy thrive. In dramatically changing circumstances, Cepi calls on the Commission to update the Forest Strategy adopted last July and make it an indispensable part of the EU’s geopolitical strategy. Europe should finally tap into the full potential of forests, forest-based products and sustainable forest management practices to reduce its dependence on fossil materials. 

About Cepi :
Cepi is the European association representing the paper industry. We offer a wide range of renewable and recyclable wood-based fibre solutions to EU citizens: from packaging to textile, hygiene and tissue products, printing and graphic papers as well as speciality papers, but also bio-chemicals for food and pharmaceuticals, bio-composites and bioenergy. We are a responsible industry: 86% of our raw materials are sourced from within the European Union and 78% of the wood comes from certified forests, 92% of the water we use is returned in good condition to the environment. We are the world champion in recycling at the rate of 73.9%. At the forefront of the decarbonisation and industrial transformation of our economy, we embrace digitalisation and bring 18.5 billion value addition to the European economy and €4.5 billion investments annually.

More information about our sustainability performance here.

Through its 18 national associations, Cepi gathers 495 companies operating 895 mills across Europe and directly employing more than 180,000 people.

Valmet will launch a new R&D and innovation project called Beyond Circularity, which improves Valmet’s readiness to support the green transition in Valmet’s customer industries based on the company’s technology vision 2030. The project aims at further strengthening Valmet’s R&D work in order to develop process technologies, automation and services for utilizing renewable materials and recycled, waste and side streams. The project also allows Valmet to further improve the energy efficiency of its process technologies and enable a shift towards the use of fossil-free energy in its pulp and paper industry customers’ production processes.

To support Valmet in achieving these ambitious project aims, Valmet will start building an ecosystem that is aimed at attracting partners, universities, research institutes and customers to participate in making the green transition a reality within the pulp and paper industry. This ecosystem is expected to have more than 100 partners in Finland in 2025. Valmet plans to invest EUR 40 million into the project during the upcoming four-year period to execute on its technology vision and climate program and generate growth. The project is partly funded by Business Finland and is part of the "Veturi" initiative, where international companies are invited to solve some of society's most pressing challenges, through increased research, development and innovation investments in Finland.

Valmet launches the Beyond Circularity project to boost green transition

“We are excited to launch Beyond Circularity. A new green transition ecosystem is to be built as part of this project, which is expected to create value and growth for the participants, expand competences to new areas and encourage best national and international partners in the field to join. The core of the ecosystem is Valmet’s unique triangle approach of technology, automation and services enriched by the interdisciplinary knowhow of the partners. By building and developing this exceptional combination, circular economy, autonomous mills and industrial services are taken forward by globally leading specialists in their fields,“ says Valmet’s Vice President of Research and Development Janne Pynnönen.

Valmet is the leading global developer and supplier of process technologies, automation and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries. We aim to become the global champion in serving our customers. 

Valmet's strong technology offering includes pulp mills, tissue, board and paper production lines, as well as power plants for bioenergy production. Our advanced services and automation solutions improve the reliability and performance of our customers' processes and enhance the effective utilization of raw materials and energy.  

Valmet's net sales in 2021 were approximately EUR 3.9 billion. Our more than 14,000 professionals around the world work close to our customers and are committed to moving our customers' performance forward - every day. Valmet's head office is in Espoo, Finland and its shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki.  

Read more www.valmet.com

SCA has just published its annual and sustainability report for 2021. In the report, SCA describes the company's work to contribute to a fossil-free society. SCA's climate benefit in 2021 amounted to 10.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide based on the forest's net carbon sequestration, substitution effect and reduced fossil emissions.

The annual report is available on the SCA website at www.sca.com. The printed annual report will begin to be distributed to shareholders and other stakeholders from March 25 2022.

The annual report is published in accordance with the reporting requirements of the European Single Electronic Format (ESEF). In accordance with the requirements of the ESEF, the year-end report has been provided with XBRL tags. The ESEF files, in Swedish, can be downloaded at sca.com

A new training module for pulp and paper applications is now available at the increasingly popular NSK academy online platform. Focussing on the dryer section of papermaking machinery, this informative and engaging course will benefit all those who specify or work with bearings for this demanding application. Participants achieving an 80% pass mark will receive a certificate.

The dryer section of papermaking machines is a harsh operating environment for bearings. High temperatures, moisture (steam) and potential contamination can bring entire systems to a halt in the event of premature bearing failure. As a result, optimal bearing specification and maintenance can make a genuine difference to bottom line profitability through the elimination of unplanned production stoppages and improved service life.

Knowledge is key, which is where the new NSK academy training module for dryer section bearing technology can help.

The new training module for bearings used in the dryer section of papermaking machinery is available now at www.nskacademy.com

This comprehensive learning material begins by explaining the various areas of the dryer section that require bearings, including the canvas roll, paper roll, breaker stack bottom roll, drying cylinder, Yankee dryer and PV roll. The module also sets out the function of each area, its typical operating conditions and the bearing attributes required to provide high performance. In addition, the course identifies a number of potential challenges and offers information about the bearing types best-placed to overcome these issues.

Importantly, training module participants will learn about bearing failure modes typical to the dryer section of papermaking machinery, such as inner ring creep, inner ring fracture and flaking. The course reveals what causes these problems and the best countermeasures to take.

Ultimately, the latest NSK training module provides an understanding of the fundamental bearing principles in relation to dryer sections, where very high temperatures, high speeds and heavy loads can cause significant problems for poorly specified or maintained bearings. Anyone working in the papermaking industry will benefit from the course, including those in sales, technical support, R&D, maintenance and engineering.

The module is available now at www.nskacademy.com (a quick and easy registration process is required for new users).

About NSK Europe
NSK Europe Ltd. is the European organisation of the Tokyo-based bearing manufacturer NSK, which was founded in Japan in 1916 and today employs nearly 30,400 people in its worldwide operations. The products and solutions provided by the industrial and automotive supplier can be found wherever things move. In addition to nearly all types of rolling bearings, the company’s portfolio includes housed bearings, linear technology, wheel bearing units, transmission and engine bearings and steering systems. The company is oriented to perfection in all of its business activities. Its aim is quality leadership in its industry, which it strives for through a continuous process of improvement, excellent product development, optimised production processes and customer-oriented service processes. In fiscal year 2020, the more than 4,350 employees of NSK Europe Ltd. generated sales of over € 792 million.
www.nskeurope.com