Today the Norway’s Prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre and the Minister of Trade and Industry Jan Christian Vestre visited Viken Skog’s Follum mill in Hønefoss. The plan of BillerudKorsnäs and the Norwegian forest owner group Viken Skog to establish production of bleached chemi-thermomechanical pulp (BCTMP) in Norway attracts large interest. Through a long-term partnership with Viken Skog, BillerudKorsnäs will secure both tailormade BCTMP and wood supply supporting the strategy for sustainable and profitable growth in paperboard. The Follum mill already has much of the infrastructure needed to establish such a production line and is in an area with competitive and sustainable wood supply and good transports to BillerudKorsnäs’ board mills. The ongoing feasibility study is expected to be completed during the first half of 2023. BillerudKorsnäs strategy has a clear goal - to deliver sustainable growth in packaging materials. To get the opportunity to develop the new mill in Follum as a state of the art sustainable operation is in line with our strategy. We aim for negative CO2 footprint in production with bio gas and carbon capture, says Christoph Michalski, President and CEO at BillerudKorsnäs.

Crown Van Gelder is investigating together with Eneco a next step into a sustainable future by maybe building an electrical boiler of 25 megawatt onsite! (big water cooker). This boiler can be powered by electricity provided by an offshore wind farm close to the factory. With the boiler Crown Van Gelder is able to power down the gas burning turbine during days with enough wind! Hopefully there is enough wind and funding to make this happen. Check this Dutch spoken movie with English subtitles by clicking read more below.

The packaging and manufacturing industries are navigating a period of significant disruption, driven by persistent workforce challenges, according to a report entitled “2025: Inside the Workforce Gap” from PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies. From high turnover and an aging labor force to evolving technology and rising difficulty in talent acquisition and retention, companies are being forced to adapt. Studies from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics predict that an additional 3.1 million jobs in maintenance and repair occupations will be added by 2031. This is a disconcerting possibility, as many manufacturers report that attracting and retaining a quality workforce already ranks among their most critical hurdles. Workforce challenges are placing increased strain on both consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), as evidenced by CPG personnel interviewed for the PMMI report, who cited retirements of experienced staff (especially since COVID), high turnover among new hires, and intense competition for technicians, which leave many companies unsure how the labor pool will improve.