With the HydroSeal product, Voith has successfully participated in the Environmental Technology Award in Category 3 - Technologies for Emission Reduction, Treatment and Separation. The company came second.

The Ministry of Environment, Climate and Energy of Baden-Württemberg has been awarding the Environmental Technology Award since 2009. It is awarded every two years for excellent and innovative products in environmental technology. The prize money amounts to 100,000 euros and is spread over four categories ("Energy Efficiency", "Material Efficiency", "Technologies for Emission Reduction, Treatment and Separation" and "Measurement and Control Technology") and a special prize of the jury. Participation is open to companies with head offices or branches in Baden-Württemberg. The award recognizes products that make a significant contribution to resource efficiency and environmental protection and are nearing launch onto the market or that will be on the market in not more than two years. This year's awards ceremony by Environment Minister Franz Untersteller took place on 7 July 2015, in the Römerkastell (Roman Fort) in Stuttgart.

"We see our ranking as a special award for our commitment to the development of innovative environmental technology." The HydroSeal product is a new sealing strip system with integrated lubricating water supply for suction rolls in a paper machine. "Compared to previous sealing strip systems the new design from Voith, for which several patents have been filed, saves water and energy at the same time and furthermore results in a number of additional process advantages and thus a high customer value", explained Marc Erkelenz, R&D Manager of Mechanical Roll Service at Voith. The environmental benefit is immense: with the rebuild of only one suction roll savings in fresh and waste water of up to 20,000 m³/year (compared to about 8 Olympic swimming pools), and about 1 million kWh/year (the equivalent annual energy consumption of approximately 667 persons) can be achieved – depending on the size and type of the machine.

"With the Environmental Technology Award Baden-Württemberg we honor products and technologies that manage to bring the needs of people in line with the needs of the economy and at the same time protect the environment," said Environment Minister Franz Untersteller, who together with the jury of experts chose the prize winners and the nominated companies from the applications. The other jury members are Prof. Dr. Thomas Hirth (director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology as well as director of the Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Plasma Technology at the University of Stuttgart), Joachim Kaufmann (CEO Dürr Systems GmbH), Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Bauer (director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Work Management and Organization and director of the Institute for Industrial Ergonomics and Technology Management at the University of Stuttgart) – represented by Mr. Michael Bucher (head of Competence Team Shared Systems Design IAO), Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dipl.-Kfm. Alexander Sauer (director of the Institute for Energy Efficiency in Production (EEP) of the University of Stuttgart and director of Development Group Efficiency Systems at the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology and Automation IPA), Dr.-Ing. Hannes Spieth (managing director of Environmental Technology BW) and Ingolf Baur (physicist and presenter at SWR).

Voith Paper is a division of the Voith Group and the leading partner to and pioneer in the paper industry. Through constant innovations, Voith Paper is optimizing the paper manufacturing process, focusing on developing resource-saving products to reduce the use of energy, water, and fibers. Furthermore, Voith Paper offers a broad service portfolio for all sections of the paper manufacturing process.

Voith sets standards in the markets of energy, oil & gas, paper, raw materials and transport & automotive. Founded in 1867, Voith today has more than 39,000 employees, sales of €5.3 billion and locations in more than 50 countries, making it one of the largest family-owned companies in Europe.

Xerium Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:XRM), a leading global provider of industrial consumable products and services, was the Northwest Louisiana recipient of the 2015 Lantern Award. The ceremony took place on Tuesday, June 16, 2015 at the Governors’ Mansion in Baton Rouge, LA.

Louisiana Economic Development selected Xerium’s Stowe Woodward division in Ruston as their choice amongst a field of outstanding nominations, recognizing Xerium for excellence in manufacturing and outstanding service to the Ruston community.

“Xerium is committed to operational excellence in all of its facilities – fair prices, great cost structures, outstanding quality, and on-time delivery. We made a big decision two years ago to make a large investment in the Ruston plant in order to further its performance against these goals. The Ruston plant and team are ideally located in the heart of one of the company’s most important regional locations. We are extremely proud of our team in Ruston, LA. We are thankful to be recognized as a top manufacturer in the region. This is a well-deserved award for the Ruston team,” said Mr. Harold Bevis, President and CEO of Xerium.

“Xerium is committed to aligning its operational footprint and capabilities to win in the global markets. Achieving this goal requires both investment in certain plants and, at the same time, permanent closure of high-cost, suboptimal plants. Ruston is a strategic plant for Xerium. We are committed to continuous innovation in its manufacturing processes and delivering ever-higher quality to its customers. There is a lot yet to accomplish in Ruston to achieve our internal goals. But it is special to pause and reflect how far we have come already, and accept this award as a hard-earned recognition. Thank you to all involved with selecting Xerium’s Ruston, Louisiana plant as an outstanding manufacturing operation.”

More details about the award are available at http://www.opportunitylouisiana.com/index.cfm/newsroom/detail/1081.

ABOUT XERIUM

Xerium Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:XRM) is a leading global provider of industrial consumable products and services. Xerium utilizes a broad portfolio of patented and proprietary technologies to provide customers with tailored solutions and products integral to production, all designed to optimize performance and reduce operational costs. Xerium has 26 manufacturing facilities in 12 countries, two new plants under construction in 2 countries and employs approximately 3,100 employees.

Alfa Laval Group – a world leader in heat transfer, centrifugal separation and fluid handling – has acquired an aftermarket company, specialized in separation technology. The company will remain a separate organization and offer its own parts and services under its own brand name. Revenues are estimated to reach about SEK 50 million this year and the company is consolidated as from July 3, 2015.

The acquisition is in line with the strategy of the Alfa Laval Group of acquiring companies that complement the existing business in terms of products, geography or in the form of new sales channels. In this case the Alfa Laval Group adds a complementary aftermarket channel.

“With the acquisitions we are adding presence in an important niche of the aftermarket,” says Lars Renström, President and CEO of the Alfa Laval Group. “

Did you know that… the value of the aftermarket for separation is estimated to be four times the value of new sales?

About Alfa Laval                                                                                                         
Alfa Laval is a leading global provider of specialized products and engineering solutions based on its key technologies of heat transfer, separation and fluid handling.

The company’s equipment, systems and services are dedicated to assisting customers in optimizing the performance of their processes. The solutions help them to heat, cool, separate and transport products in industries that produce food and beverages, chemicals and petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, starch, sugar and ethanol.

Alfa Laval’s products are also used in power plants, aboard ships, oil and gas exploration, in the mechanical engineering industry, in the mining industry and for wastewater treatment, as well as for comfort climate and refrigeration applications.

Alfa Laval’s worldwide organization works closely with customers in nearly 100 countries to help them stay ahead in the global arena.

Alfa Laval is listed on Nasdaq OMX, and, in 2014, posted annual sales of about SEK 35.1 billion (approx. 3.85 billion Euros). The company has about 18 000 employees.

www.alfalaval.com

The Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) has released its 2014 Key Statistics, giving a clear picture of the industry’s performance last year. The report includes data about production, consumption and the trade of pulp, paper and raw materials, as well as data on energy and environment. It shows an industry in full transformation, with the growth in output in the packaging sector and a more modest increase in hygiene paper production more than balancing out the continuous decline in the output of graphic paper. Here are the main highlights of the report:

- The production of paper and board in Europe decreased by 0.2% in 2014 compared to the previous year, after a cumulative decline of 4% between 2010 and 2013. It is now established at 91.1 million tonnes.

- Paper and board consumption rose by 0.9% compared to 2013 and totalled 77.1 million tonnes. This increase is particularly important because it comes after three consecutive years of decline. The EU28 and the euro area recovered in 2014, with the annual GDP thought to have increased by respectively 1.3% and 0.8% (source: Eurostat). This was reflected in the demand for paper.

- Graphic grades represented 40.5% of all paper and board produced in Europe, packaging grades 47.5%, sanitary and household papers 7.7% and speciality grades 4.3%.

- Paper and board exports to countries outside CEPI dropped, causing concern, whilst imports rose, resulting in a slightly negative trade balance impact. However, CEPI countries maintained an overall positive trade balance in paper (exports exceeding imports) of 14.0 million tonnes in 2014 (14.8 million tonnes in 2013).

- Market pulp production fell by 1.4% compared to 2013, with an output of 13.2 million tonnes.

Ernst & Young issued a limited assurance statement on the data quality rating that CEPI carried out on its core indicators in the statistics report. The limited assurance statement is available on CEPI’s website at: http://www.cepi.org/topics/statistics

The Key statistics report can be downloaded here.

Pay Attention to Recycling: Low-energy UV Printing is not necessarily environmentally friendly

Cross-linked inks are difficult to remove in the deinking process – coloured dots within the paper fibres

Coloured specks on the recycled paper: Just because the curing radiation can now be generated by energy-saving LEDs, instead of high-power mercury bulbs, some try to market UV printing processes to be environmentally friendly. However, the shiny appearances are deceptive: Prints with radiation-cured inks can considerably impair paper recycling because they can hardly be deinked.*

UV-curable printing inks to date hardly fulfil criteria for good recyclability. All inks tested so far contaminate the processed paper for recycling with far too many ink particles that can not or not sufficiently be removed during the paper recycling process. This is also the case for UV-curable inks used in some inkjet printers.

As small amounts of papers printed with UV-cured inks can impair the deinkability of a load of paper for recycling, UV- prints have to be kept separately where they accumulate, e. g. printer waste, and must not be mixed  with  other graphic papers for deinking. Once they have left the print shop, it is almost impossible to identify and separate them during collection and recycling processes.

Newly developed inks might be a way out, if they are designed to be removable in the paper recycling process: They should detach from the fibres under the alkaline pulping conditions, disintegrate into small particles, and leave the process clinging to the soap bubbles in a flotation cell.

Water is not better than oil: Check your ink’s properties

Different printing inks pose different challenges to the deinking process. Water based inks cause problems as they dissolve in the process water; cross-linked particles due to their size, flexibility or surface properties can neither be separated mechanically (screens) nor by flotation. This is why
– also without UV-curing – most current commercially used inkjet inks are rated undeinkable. Already in small amounts, they can lead to severe brightness problems in the paper mill.

Another cross-linked challenge is polyethylene liquid toner (HP Indigo), currently used for most of the photobooks. This is a thin plastic film rather than a conventional printing ink.

During the recycling process, this film breaks into snippets, which cannot be removed sufficiently. These snippets have already led to significant damage in a paper mill, since then photobook printer waste must not be mixed with graphic paper for recycling and at best be used for corrugated board.

More ink, more variety, less fibres

At the same time, with decreasing grammage of newspapers and more coloured illustrations, paper mills have to remove more and more ink from less and less fibres.

Together with ink manufacturers, the respective associations, and publishers paper mills continuously check the deinkability of current printed products. For this purpose together with the European Recovered Paper Council a scoring system has been developed.** Together the industries look for ways to replace poor deinkable printing inks by more recycling-friendly solutions.

INGEDE is an association of leading European paper manu- facturers founded in 1989. INGEDE aims at promoting utilisa- tion of graphic paper for recycling (newsprint, magazines and office paper) and improving the conditions for an extended use of paper for recycling for the production of graphic and hygiene papers.

*  Deinking is the removal of printing ink during the paper recycling process.
** ERPC is the European Recovered Paper Council. The “Deinkability Score” system is available from the ERPC website  www.paperrecovery.org

Cascades Inc. (TSX: CAS), a leader in the recovery and manufacturing of green packaging and tissue paper products, announces that it has entered into an agreement with its banking syndicate led by National Bank of Canada and Scotiabank as co-lead arrangers and joint book runners to extend and amend certain conditions of its existing $750 million revolving credit facility.
 
The amendment provides that the term of the facility will be extended to July 2019 and that the applicable pricing grid will be slightly lowered to better reflect market conditions. The other existing financial conditions will remain essentially unchanged.
 
In commenting on this refinancing, Mr. Allan Hogg, Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer, stated: "We are pleased with the continued support from our banking syndicate. The combined impact of this amendment and the refinancing of our senior notes in 2014 and earlier this year, will be to reduce total annual borrowing costs by more than $20 million per year, extend debt maturities to 2019 at the earliest while providing us with bank financing availability of approximately $375 million, which is sufficient to allow us to pursue our growth objectives.” 
 
Certain statements in this release, including statements regarding future results and performance, are forward-looking statements based on current expectations. The accuracy of such statements is subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, including, but not limited to, the effect of general economic conditions, decreases in demand for the Company’s products, increases in raw material costs, fluctuations in selling prices and adverse changes in general market and industry conditions and other factors listed in the Company’s Securities and Exchange Commission and Canadian Securities Commissions filings.
 
Founded in 1964, Cascades produces, converts and markets packaging and tissue products that are composed mainly of recycled fibres. The Company employs close to 11,000 employees, who work in over 90 production units located in North America and Europe. With its management philosophy, half a century of experience in recycling, and continuous efforts in research and development as driving forces, Cascades continues to deliver the innovative products that customers have come to rely on. Cascades' shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange, under the ticker symbol CAS.

Investors
Riko Gaudreault
Director, Investor Relations and Business Strategies
Cascades Inc.
514 282-2697
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Source
Allan Hogg
Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer

Valmet will deliver a white liquor handling system to BillerudKorsnäs's pulp mill in Skärblacka, Sweden. The start-up of the rebuilt plant is planned in June 2016.

The order is included in Valmet's second quarter 2015 orders received and the value of the order will not be disclosed.

"Previously Valmet has delivered a recovery boiler rebuild and a new evaporation plant to the Skärblacka mill. This upgrade will enable a production capacity increase, as existing equipment has become too small and is in a need of extensive maintenance," says Thomas Malmqvist, Sales Manager Pulp and Energy, from Valmet.

Details about the delivery

The new equipment that Valmet will install are a white liquor filter of type PDW and a causticizer tank. The white liquor filter produces a clear white liquor which increases the efficiency and availability in the pulping process. The separation of white liquor from lime mud is done by pressure filtration. After the rebuild the white liquor plant will have a capacity of 5 200 m³ per day.

About the customer BillerudKorsnäs and Skärblacka mill

BillerudKorsnäs is a leading company within renewable packaging materials. Together with their partners, they create smart packaging solutions. The company has about 4 300 employees and eight production units, one of which is the Skärblacka mill.

Skärblacka mill develops and produces everything from highly porous sack paper to fluting and white machine glazed kraft paper. Production capacity of the mill is 430 000 tonnes/year.

For further information, please contact:

Thomas Malmqvist, Sales Manager, Pulp and Energy Business Line, Valmet, Tel. +46 70 310 53 22

Valmet is the leading global developer and supplier of technologies, automation and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries. Valmet's vision is to become the global champion in serving its customers.

Valmet's services cover everything from maintenance outsourcing to mill and plant improvements and spare parts. The strong technology offering includes pulp mills, tissue, board and paper production lines, as well as power plants for bio-energy production. Valmet's advanced automation solutions range from single measurements to mill wide turnkey automation projects.

Valmet's net sales in 2014 were approximately EUR 2.5 billion. Our 12,000 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 OMX Helsinki Ltd.

Optimizing production and incrementing line productivity. Today, both these goals can be obtained, limiting investments to a minimum, thanks to TANDEM®, the newly conceived rewinder designed by A. Celli Nonwovens to answer this twofold demand.

A.Celli Nonwovens TANDEM® is an additional rewinder, external to the line, that allows managing particular needs as far as volume, diameter and cutting formats while at the same time guaranteeing extra capacity during peaks in production. Customizable, plug-and-play, perfectly adaptable and compatible with any standard rewinding system or complete line for both tissue and nonwovens.

A.Celli TANDEM®: Affordable flexibility!

For further information on the new TANDEM® rewinder, you can contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

A.Celli Paper and A.Celli Nonwovens are two internationally renowned companies headquartered in Lucca that have been present in the global paper and nonwovens markets with top-range technological solutions for over 70 years. In 2003, cousins Mauro Celli and Alessandro Celli – who today serve as presidents of the two companies – decided to restructure the family company founded by Alvaro Celli in 1944. The idea was to create two specific companies – A.Celli Paper S.p.A. and A.Celli Nonwovens S.p.A., the first dedicated to tissue, flat papers and cardboard and the second to nonwovens. A continuous growth that set the foundations for the creation of the A.Celli Group, opening the way to major development in terms of visibility and results for both business areas. The Group’s strategy was to transition from a culture entirely focused on mechanical production to one focused on being a centre of excellence and expertise, aimed at ensuring customers the best results in terms of performance, innovation, quality and optimisation of investments. And all based on the establishment of long-term relationships and partnerships and intense R&D activities. The A.Celli companies are consistently dedicated to anticipating customers’ needs, differentiating themselves for being flexible, young and dynamic companies, and for the high degree of design automation of its machinery. It is important to underscore the attention placed on the “baby-sitting” phase during machine installation, designed to offer qualified and specialized support to the customer from start-up all the way to the exit of the finished product from the machine. In addition to its Italian offices, the A.Celli Group is also present in Asia with a division in Shanghai, China – A.Celli Shanghai Machinery Co. Ltd., in the Americas, in Coral Springs, Miami, Florida (USA) with A.Celli International Inc., and in Moscow, Russia with the A.Celli Paper Russia branch.

SCA has developed a high bulk LWC paper called GraphoStyle. Its printability is on a par with exclusive magazines, it creates volume and has one of the best environmental profiles in the market.

GraphoStyle is a matt, bright and bulky (feels thicker) LWC paper. This gives it an exclusive magazine feel, even for printed materials with lower page counts. It is also suitable for smaller runs.

GraphoStyle offers great value for both readers and advertisers. They benefit from using paper with a higher bulk, giving the printed material a high-class feel and appearance.  

“There has been a clear increase in the demand for bulky paper with high brightness in Europe, while paper that has an easily-readable matt surface is also proof of environmental values,” says Ulf Edman, Marketing Director for SCA Ortviken’s publication paper.

GraphoStyle has a higher brightness, providing good contrasts and vibrant colours in images. Higher bulk also enables paper buyers to reduce the grammage, saving money in both purchasing and distribution. GraphoStyle has been developed to compete with higher bulk papers used in advertising and magazines.

“Over the past few years, SCA Ortviken has launched products based on customer needs that are profitable to produce. GraphoInvent is an uncoated, bulky paper for newspapers, magazines and advertising. GraphoInvent has captured a high market share in a short period of time. We then launched the easily-readable coated paper GraphoSilk – we are selling high volumes of this paper. With GraphoStyle we want to give customers an extraordinary paper that meets the needs that we are currently seeing,” continues Ulf Edman.

For more information, please contact:

Ulf Edman, Marketing Director, SCA Ortviken, tel. +46(0)60-19 77 76.
Björn Lyngfelt, Information Director, SCA Forest Pro

Valmet will supply Parenco B. V. with high capacity winder for company's containerboard making line PM2 in Renkum, Netherlands. The PM2 was shut down in 2009 by mill's earlier owner due to declining demand of newsprint paper. Now, the machine will be converted to produce testliner and fluting grades, which are used in containerboards. The converted PM2 is scheduled to start-up during the third quarter of 2016.

The order is included in Valmet's second quarter 2015 orders received. The value of the order will not be disclosed.

Valmet OptiWin Drum high capacity winder

"Valmet's winding technology enables high capacity and reliable production of lightweight packaging board. The proof of this is our strong reference base in Europe. Our OptiWin two drum winders are well suited for multiple grades and models are available for all machine widths", says Kenneth Åkerlund, Product Manager, Winders and Reels, from Valmet.

Technical information about the delivery

Parenco's PM2 has a trim width of 8.5 m. After the conversion it will produce testliner and fluting grades at a capacity of around 385,000 tonnes/yr.

Valmet's delivery includes a fully automated OptiWin two-drum winder comprisingcore feeding, automatic set change and an end gluing device. Valmet's delivery also includes parent roll handling system, fully automatic roll marking and roll conveyor system, automatic core cutting and core handling system as well as related pulper and air systems and machine control system.

About the customer Parenco

Parenco B. V., located in the Netherlands, has a yearly turnover of approximately EUR 140 million and the company operates two paper machines PM1 and PM2 in their Renkum mill. Parenco has over 200 employees. Since October 2012 the company has been owned by H2 Equity Partners.

Further information, please contact:

Kenneth Åkerlund, Product Manager, Winders and Reels, tel. + 358 40 865 6287

Petri Paukkunen, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Paper Mills Business Unit, tel. +358 40 744 8182

Valmet is the leading global developer and supplier of technologies, automation and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries. Valmet's vision is to become the global champion in serving its customers.

Valmet's services cover everything from maintenance outsourcing to mill and plant improvements and spare parts. The strong technology offering includes pulp mills, tissue, board and paper production lines, as well as power plants for bio-energy production. Valmet's advanced automation solutions range from single measurements to mill wide turnkey automation projects.

Valmet's net sales in 2014 were approximately EUR 2.5 billion. Our 12,000 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 OMX Helsinki Ltd.