May 11th, 2004

Mayr-Melnhof Karton invests in raw material treatment

At the two MM mills at Neuss and Nikopol two new de-inking machines were put into operation. In the form of this investment, MM Karton is taking a further step in the direction of long-term quality assurance and economy in the area of supplying raw material.

The capacity of the finished material of the two machines comprises around 200 tons per day in Neuss and 70 tons per day in the Bulgarian mill at Nikopol. Together with the installation in the Dutch mill at Eerbeek, which was commissioned back in 1987, Mayr-Melnhof Karton now has a total of three de-inking installations. These installations form the foundation for a made-to-measure specification of raw materials and a high-quality production.

“The use of modern sorters – one pre-sorter and one after-sorter, a disperger and two-stage bleaching enables us to attain high and consistent quality at various specifications charging of raw materials”, according to Andreas Braun, technological project manager of the new installation in Neuss. The concept behind the project was developed on the basis of the experiences of the mechanical engineering company Andritz and was accompanied by several tests. It is especially important for the wide range of products in Neuss that an appropriate level of consistancy is achieved even at raw material level. This enables, on the one hand, compliance with stiffness and calliper values within the tight specified tolerances and guarantees, on the other hand, an extremely high level of brightness and excellent coverage of the cartonboard.

Whereas the mill in Neuss installed a new, state-ofthe-art installation, the Bulgarian mill at Nikopol decided on the overhaul of a used de-inking line. The main factor behind this investment decision was also the optimisation of the consistancy of products. The change-over from cellulose to de-inked recovered paper in the outer layer improves the formation of the cartonboard. At the same time, the production costs were optimised. ”With an investment figure of around 24 million euros, these two projects make up a considerable foundation-stone for the long-term and homogenous quality of our products. Moreover, our own production of ”DIP material” in modern installations achieves as great a level of independence from market-sensitive recovered paper as possible”, explains Martin Mühlhauser, technical director of the MM cartonboard division.