In a world where sustainability is not just a buzzword but a pressing need, companies are increasingly looking for innovative ways to reduce their environmental footprint and drive positive change within their industries. Two such trailblazers, UPM Raflatac and Sustana, have joined hands in a concerted effort to revolutionize the way release liner waste is handled, thus catalyzing the transition towards a circular economy. Release liner, often overlooked and dismissed as unrecyclable due to its silicone coating, is a prime example of an underutilized resource. However, through collaborative efforts spearheaded by UPM Raflatac and Sustana, this perception is being challenged. Michael Garretson, Manager of Recycling and Circular Solutions at UPM Raflatac Americas, emphasizes, "Many people don’t realize that there are recycling options for label release liner. There are. It’s just a function of putting the pieces together. That’s what we’re doing here." Sustana's innovative technology plays a pivotal role in this process, enabling the desiliconization of release liner and transforming it into clean, high-grade fiber and papers. This forward-thinking approach not only diverts release liner from landfills but also unlocks its potential as a valuable feedstock.

Fourth Quarter of 2022 Highlights: *Fourth quarter 2022 net loss from continuing operations was $25.9 million, compared to net loss of $16.3 million in the third quarter of 2022on the same basis . This result reflects the sharp downturn in lumber market prices seen during the fourth quarter. *Lumber prices dropped, reflecting economic headwinds and lower demand in Q4 2022, with an average selling price of $644/mfbm compared to $800/mfbm in Q3 2022. Steadily rising interest rates since Q2 2022, in response to high inflation, reduced US housing starts and caused flagging homebuilders’ confidence, which worsened during the fourth quarter.

Paper Excellence announced today that its Catalyst Crofton facility will take a market curtailment of about two weeks in November 2021. The curtailment is in response to on-going global logistics challenges and will be coordinated with a previously planned maintenance shutdown of the facility’s biomass power boiler. Because the boiler shutdown significantly impacts energy costs, both the paper and pulp operations at the mill will be curtailed from November 9 until about November 24 as the maintenance work is completed on the boiler. Crofton expects that it will lose approximately 15,000 air dry tonnes of paper and 19,000 air dry tonnes of NBSK pulp from this outage.