Mill group Stora Enso has begun a feasibility study into converting one of its lines at Longerbrugge into Belgium into production of recycled containerboard.
Currently, the mill produces newsprint and supercalendared magazine paper. It would be the newsprint line it would potentially convert.
According to Stora Enso, the conversion would enable it to grow its recycled and recyclable packaging materials capacity and to meet the growing demand in end-use segments such as industrials, e-commerce, furniture and electronics.
It expects to complete the feasibility study in the first half of 2023. Depending on an investment decision, the converted line would be expected to be in production during 2025 with an annual capacity of 700,000 tonnes of testliner and recycled fluting grades.
Stora Enso packaging materials division vice president Hannu Kasurinen said: “Today we produce recycled containerboard in Poland, mainly for the Eastern European market. A conversion in Langerbrugge would establish a competitive position for us in Western Europe as well.
“In addition to sourcing materials for recycled containerboard, the study will also assess the handling of different incoming recycling streams, including laminated grades. Having successfully completed conversions at other sites, we would be able to leverage important learnings from those projects.”
Stora Enso announced in March it was initiating a sales process for four of its five paper production sites. Langerbrugge was excluded from the potential sale of mills.
