Smurfit Kappa breaks ground on rebuild of recovery boiler

Smurfit Kappa has begun the rebuild of a recovery boiler with a ground-breaking ceremony at its Nettingsdorf Paper Mill in Austria, it announced on Tuesday.

The FTSE 100 packaging giant said the ceremony, which was the latest milestone in its ‘Future Energy Plant’ project, was presided over by the Governor of Upper Austria and the Mayor of Ansfelden.

It said the new recovery boiler would improve the profitability and sustainability of the mill, and was part of a €134 million investment in Nettingsdorf.

The boiler would enable the plant to further boost energy optimisation at the mill, which had reportedly already seen a 34% increase in productivity since becoming part of Smurfit Kappa in 1995.

By recovering energy from the biomass contained in black liquor from pulp production, the new boiler should cut carbon dioxide emissions by 40,000 tonnes - apparently equal to about two-thirds of the current emissions at the site, and 1.5% of those from the whole Smurfit Kappa Group.

Over the next two years, the Future Energy Plant project would also involve developing a new steam turbine, as well as several extensions and adjustments to upstream and downstream plants.

“With the ground-breaking ceremony for the rebuild of the recovery boiler, we have taken a step into the future for Smurfit Kappa Nettingsdorf,” said Smurfit Kappa Nettingsdorf’s chief executive officer Günter Hochrathner.

Laurent Sellier, chief operating officer for Smurfit Kappa Paper in Europe, added that the company was “striving” for sustainable business.

“The Future Energy Plant project is part of a larger investment programme by the Smurfit Kappa Group to further improve sustainability.

“This investment will enable us to ensure a long-term supply of high-quality, sustainable containerboard - something our customers have come to expect from us.”