Klabin announces that a R$32 million ($8.2 million) investment was approved for its research and development program, involving the construction of a pilot mill complex, at the Monte Alegre Unit, in Telêmaco Borba (Paraná), Brazil.
It is a project that will allow for the simulation of a mill where studies and tests will be conducted in research fields such as microfibrillated pulp (MFC), which will be incorporated to the company's paper production lines, increasing the quality and resistance of Klabin products, and lignin, in this case for commercial purposes, enabling the company to enter new markets for renewable and sustainable products. Klabin, because of its diversified wood base, has lignin from pine, eucalyptus and the mixing of both species, providing unique products to the market.
Last year, the company inaugurated a modern Technology Center able to produce a broad range of forestry products and run simulations of the mills’ production lines, anticipating trends and developing technologies and sustainable applications.
“All activities in our Technology Center are on a laboratory scale. Just over a year after its inauguration, we achieved a level of development maturity that makes it necessary to produce some materials on a larger scale, enabling prolonged industrial tests. That gave rise to the need to create a Pilot Mill Complex, which should be operational in the 4Q 2019,” explained Francisco Razzolini, Klabin’s Industrial Technology, Innovation, Sustainability and Pulp Business Officer.
Klabin is the largest producer and exporter of paper for packaging in Brazil, its only company offering one-stop solutions in hardwood, softwood and fluff pulp, and the leader in corrugated board packaging and industrial bags.
