West Linn Paper Company today annouced that it is ceasing operations and will commence a winding up of its business supervised by its second lien lender. "We are deeply disappointed to end the mill’s 128 year history, the last twenty of which resulted from a major restructuring and restart when our current ownership took control of West Linn Paper Company. The commitment and support that we received from our employees, our lenders and our owners as we sought to adapt to structural changes in our markets has been remarkable. However, several unforeseeable events have led to a significant reduction in available pulp, making continued operations impossible. As a result we will wind up our operations as quickly and efficiently as possible, beginning immediately." states Brian Konen, Chief Operating Officer for West Linn Paper Company. Company officials said that orders for stock product will continue to be accepted. Orders that have been produced but not yet shipped will be shipped. Manufacturing orders that have been accepted, but not yet produced, will be reviewed and customers will be contacted shortly with confirmations as to whether those orders will be produced. The Company will not be accepting new manufacturing orders going forward.

Smurfit Kappa’s Townsend Hook paper mill in the UK has introduced a new state-of-the art drying process innovation to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions. Traditionally, paper drying is one of the most energy-intensive aspects of the manufacturing process. The innovative new processes implemented have resulted in a 6% reduction in steam energy consumption and a 5% reduction in total CO2 emissions from the Kent-based paper mill. A ‘digital twin’ approach was used in the project to create a virtual representation of the drying system to simulate how it would perform. An early example of digital twin technology usage was during the rescue mission of the Apollo 13 spacecraft in 1970 when computer models were used to determine flight characteristics far from earth.

The Board of the Paper Workers’ Union has confirmed the negotiated results of the collective labour agreements for the Finnish mills and biorefinery of UPM Pulp, UPM Communication Papers, UPM Specialty Papers, UPM Raflatac and UPM Biofuels. An agreement was reached earlier today in the last open negotiations at UPM Specialty Papers. The new collective labour agreements will have a two-year contract period and will enter into force immediately. The agreed wage increases in the collective agreements will take effect from 1 July 2024. "We are pleased that, after long and thorough negotiations, we have reached five agreements where we have jointly developed the content of the agreements to meet the needs of each business," says Riitta Savonlahti, Executive Vice President, HR at UPM.