Value stream for sustainability by Kadant

Value stream for sustainability

Article by Marcello Giorgi & Martin Koepenick

Kadant’s Luca Baldo and ReLife’s Nilde Sisti present large rejected “contaminants”. Now that Cartiera di Bosco Merango and the Belfante Group have merged, this kind of troublesome material in OCC recycled waste is going away.

Important to Cartiera di Bosco Marengo is a partnership with Kadant to develop innovations in stock preparation and plastics recovery. Fiber quality and yield of quality core board continue to rise. Energy consumption is down and productivity is up. Their new continuous stock preparation system eliminates steps in the process. A stealth project to turn plastic waste into a valuable raw material is also underway. In addition, their Dryer Management System® control systems (DMS control systems) from Kadant allows for considerable savings in natural gas and greater flexibility in running the paper machine.

For this 100% recycled furnish pulp and paper mill to team up with a waste management company, Benfante ushers in “spherical” business model—not just circular. This means value from a better, controlled supply chain. Value from maximizing fiber, which isn’t always ideal. Value from turning what was landfilled into a plastic raw material for resale. Value from enhancing the environment for Italians in Northern Italy and providing global products that are sustainable.

Not only does the pulp and paper mill receive OCC from Benfante, but together they are seeking ways to turn so-called contaminants—plastics—into a raw material they can sell.

“When you gain more from fiber while dramatically reducing waste going to landfill, and turning plastic waste into a marketable asset, this is a winning idea,” says Alberto Ghigliotti, president of Cartiera di Bosco Marengo.

Enzo Scalia, managing director of Benfante group adds, “Our multiple value streams are really spherical, more than circular. We produce traditional and entirely new products, while saving energy and environmental costs from start to finish. The sustainability gain is enormous.”

“When you think of waste as valuable, everything changes in how you run a pulp and paper mill. Kadant always has a focus on stock preparation design to make this happen. ReLife is leading the way to maximize OCC and other value steams, which used to be viewed as contaminants,” comments Marcello Giorgi, Global Sales & Marketing Director, Kadant Lamort.