Pause to consider the presence of paper in our daily lives: the notepad on your desk, this morning’s mail, the packaging for your latest online purchase, or the milk, fruit and eggs in your fridge.

Paper and paper-based products are an indispensable part of modern life – the global market is worth $340 billion – yet their very ubiquity places demands on the resources used to create them.¹ Consumption of water during production, for example, is an area where paper manufacturers strive for greater efficiency by introducing technologies such as closed-loop systems, which recycle and reuse water many times. The embrace of new technologies in the pulp and paper industry continues its history of innovation and its position as a pioneer of the ‘reuse and recycle’ principle – a key tenet of the circular economy.

And digitalization is enabling paper mills to monitor and optimize their facilities in real-time, to run leaner, cleaner, operations that offer products better aligned with environmental concerns. It is estimated that digitalization could save the pulp and paper industry (PPI) $20 billion by 2025, raising productivity, reducing waste, and keeping mills safe.

Paper with Purpose -modernizing the Pulp and Paper Industry

Pulp and paper is an energy-intensive industry – but with the right technology, paper companies can reduce energy consumption while running at peak performance.

Supporting a major sector of French industry

The pulp and paper sector in France is a significant part of the country’s manufacturing base: more than 7m tonnes of paper and board were produced by its related businesses in 2022.² ABB has extensive involvement in the sector, offering technology and solutions to help French pulp and paper manufacturers outrun, with more efficient use of resources and higher productivity.

Award-winning motors for DS Smith

Last year we upgraded a paper machine at the DS Smith Packaging Contoire-Hamel mill in north-west France, with our award-winning* IE5 SynRM motors. The 24 motors are the same size and output power as induction motors, but offer up to 50 percent lower energy losses and significantly lower energy consumption. We also supplied ACS 880 multidrives, AC500-S Safety and AC 800M controllers and panels, working to a tight deadline during a planned shutdown.

This was the first such installation in France and will contribute to DS Smith’s “Now and Next” sustainability strategy, which aims for a 46 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030.

The motors and drives will boost energy efficiency at the paper mill, while lowering noise and requiring less maintenance than conventional induction motors.

Setting an industry benchmark with Gascogne Papier

Further south, in the Landes region, we are working with Gascogne Papier on the installation of the world’s widest uncoated machine-glazed (MG) paper machine, which will replace three older machines. The new machine has a production speed of 1300 metres per minute and sets a new industry performance benchmark.

Our solution includes the ABB Ability™ System 800xA® distributed control system (DCS), the ABB Quality Control System (QCS) for pulp and paper, 8000 I/O, ACS880 multidrives and ABB’s energy-efficient SynRM IE5 motors drives and motors.

The package will help Gascogne Papier save on energy costs while simultaneously reducing waste by making more on-spec paper.

A circular approach with papeteries De Vizille

A shared commitment to sustainability has driven a collaboration between ABB and the 400-year-old Vizille paper mills in the French Alps near Grenoble. In December last year the mills installed an Autoline  - the flagship product of ABB's Lorentzen & Wettre range of measuring instruments.

The reconditioned unit offers the same reliability and performance as new equipment, while also adhering to a circularity approach in manufacturing.

The specialised nature of the products calls for increased quality control and ABB's Autoline L&W  can conduct essential measurements of several characteristics such as weight, thickness, humidity, porosity and tear resistance, to ensure standards are met.

Modernizing for sustainable operations

The circularity model has been further embraced by ABB partner VPK Group at its Alizay paper mill in Normandy, which has been converted into a site dedicated to recycled paper-based production. Our motors and drives were used to update previous units at the site, while we also delivered our Winder Performance Optimization – a fast and cost-effective solution to improve performance throughout the mill.

Only days after the conversion was completed in mid-2023, the Alizay mill noted a 30-minute per day gain in its winder process, underlining both parties’ commitment to sustainability through increased efficiency.

It was a striking example of how ABB is supporting partners in the pulp and paper industry to make swift transformations, reduce waste and accelerate towards circularity.

Sources:

*ABB’s IE5 SynRM technology won the Bronze Innovation Award 2022 from the French Technical Association of the Paper Industry (ATIP) in December 2022.

1. Fortune Business Insights

2. Statista

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