|
The paper industry needs new raw materials besides wood.
The forest products company UPM is now studying fibres produced
from straw, reed and bamboo at its Asia R&D Center.
"Guaranteeing the availability of the raw material needed
for the production of pulp and paper is the lifeblood for
the future of the forest industry," says Pekka Hurskainen,
Vice President R&D.
The paper industry in China is growing strongly. Every third
new paper machine investment in the world is carried out in
China, where 68 million tonnes of paper and board were produced
last year.
The main production bottleneck is the raw material. Because
of a shortage of wood in China, the country is already using
more than 12 million tonnes of non-wood fibres for producing
paper annually, so this is a considerable raw-material source
for the local forest industry.
UPM has set up the Asia R&D Center operating at Changshu
in China in order to become more familiar with these new raw
materials, such as straw, reed and bamboo.
Results in a few years
The main objective of the Center is to find technically and
economically efficient solutions that will be able to exploit
the new fibres better in the production of pulp with the use
of modern technology.
The "straw paper mills" operating in China at this
moment are small and old-fashioned and they are also bad polluters.
The challenge with the new fibre technology is to identify
how to separate the silicate in various reeds and how to operate
the fibres on fast paper machines.
"Research has been carried out for a couple of years
and we're expecting concrete results in two or three years,"
Hurskainen says.
Big opening
UPM's research programme combines local Chinese expertise
with Finnish expertise in paper production. The Center networks
closely with Chinese universities, for example.
"The Asia R&D Center is the first big opening for
a foreign forest industry company in carrying out research
in Asia," Hurskainen says.
According to Hurskainen, the Center will provide good support
for UPM's other research network. Besides China, there are
research operations in Finland, Germany and the United States.
>>
www.upm-kymmene.com
|
Feedback about this article
.
Finnfacts is part of