Mondi has approved a €125 million capital investment project at its semi-chemical fluting mill in Kuopio, Finland. This investment will increase the facility’s capacity by around 55 thousand tonnes per annum to meet growing customer demand; enhance product quality and cost-competitiveness; and strengthen the mill’s environmental performance. The project includes an upgrade of the wood yard, fibre line, evaporation plant and paper machine. Start-up is planned for the fourth quarter of 2023. ProVantage Powerflute®, the semi-chemical fluting produced at the mill, is a high performance and top quality containerboard grade. Due to its high strength, moisture resistance and durability, it is a key component of fresh fruit and vegetable trays and boxes as well as specialised applications.

The YIMBYism of Jay, Maine-Home to the Androscoggin Mill Opposition to data centers may be the singular unifying issue in American politics. Seventy percent of Americans are against data-center construction in their communities. They worry about the environmental dracularity of these facilities, the electrical costs they may impose, and the imperiousness with which tech companies target struggling communities while drastically altering the landscape. Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have spoken out against data centers; so have Steve Bannon and the right-wing podcaster Matt Walsh. Jay, Maine (population: 4,620; motto: “Proud of our past and working for our future!”) wants a data center. It had one in the works, and town officials lobbied the governor to preserve it. Mills listened. “We must consider the perspective of the Town of Jay,” she wrote. Fascinating article from The Atlantic on a former mill town and its desire to build a data center.https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/08/jay-maine-wants-data-center/688043/?gift=MVwpCrggHJ34j2jmxOPPkTjBsoxoFd1X3t2zTMEbj8s

Intense negotiations between UPM and Paperworkers’ Union continue. Today the union announced a three weeks’ extension to the strike at most UPM’s Finnish mills, until 2 April 2022, unless new collective labour agreements are reached before that. The Paperworkers’ Union’s strike at UPM Pulp, UPM Biofuels, UPM Communication Papers, UPM Specialty Papers and UPM Raflatac units in Finland began 1 January 2022. Currently, approximately 200 union members work at the mills in tasks critical to society, such as power plants and water treatment facilities. “In recent weeks the parties have negotiated both in the presence of the National Concialiator as well as in one-on-one negotiations. The parties now are familiar with each other’s objectives, so the negotiators have the chance to bargain and reach business-specific agreements,” says Jyrki Hollmén, Vice President, Labour markets, UPM. “Intense negotiations will continue. We call for rapid progress and spirit of compromise, so we can find satisfactory solutions for all parties and start our mills again. UPM businesses are doing their best to advance an open dialogue between the negotiating parties,” Hollmén concludes.