Ahead of the Curve

An early glimpse at APP’s OKI Mill, Sumatra

13 Jul 2016 This look at APP’s new mill, due to open later this year in Ogan Komering Ilir (OKI), South Sumatra, is an excerpt from a feature appearing in the upcoming July/August issue of Paper360° and is offered here as a preview for Ahead of the Curve readers.

UK exit likely to have very limited near-term effects on the pulp market

06 Jul 2016 Kurt Schaefer, RISI The UK voted in June to exit the European Union, surprising most observers and raising many questions and concerns.

Top 6 Coolest Things About the Paper Industry

29 Jun 2016 Sarah Dawkins, Solenis TAPPI’s Young Professionals Division promotes the future of our industry by recognizing members’ creativity and drive while encouraging them to become more personally involved in the industry. As our future leaders and innovators, we’ve invited members of the YP Division to share their insights with Ahead of the Curve readers.

Rick's Tips - Calender safety

22 Jun 2016 Nanotechnology—defined as science, engineering, and technology conducted at the nanoscale, which is about 1 to 100 nanometers—has been a hot topic in the paper industry, as researchers work to define opportunities for industry innovation. To help papermakers explore those opportunities.

Bringing the safety message home: PPSA annual meeting meets the challenge of change

15 Jun 2016 Moving to Mobile for its 73rd annual event, the Pulp & Paper Safety Association (PPSA) conference program touched all the bases, practical and theoretical, and then some. Nancy Garry, HRP Associates, also led a full day session dealing with the fundamentals of OSHA compliance in the paper industry.

Paper Industry Hall of Fame Honors Six

08 Jun 2016 “To celebrate all things paper – the wonder and the legacy” is the established mission of the Paper Industry International Hall of Fame in Appleton, Wisconsin. Since its first induction ceremony in 1995, the Hall of Fame has worked to recognize individuals who, through their inventions, initiative and efforts, have built or improved paper and allied industries worldwide.

Is more foreign boxboard finding its way into the US market?

01 Jun 2016 By Dustin Jalbert, economist, paper packaging The unprecedented growth in global boxboard capacity has understandably generated some concerns about how effectively the marketplace can absorb these volumes in the near term, particularly in a weak global economic environment. China’s aggressive expansion into virgin boxboard has been well in excess of both domestic and even global demand growth for virgin boxboard over the last several years, and now market players await the impact of another salvo of capacity from Europe. The European projects alone will add roughly 1.2 million metric tons of folding boxboard capacity (FBB) capacity through 2017. We have explored these and other global trends in our recent World Boxboard Study.

WebAcademy - reduce the knowledge gap at your mill

25 May 2016 Maria J. Doa, Ph.D is the director of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Chemical Control Division in the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. Doa will be the keynote speaker at TAPPI’s 2016 International Conference on Nanotechnology for Renewable Materials, which will be held June 13-16 in Grenoble, France. This interview was conducted for TAPPI by Jack Miller, founder and principal consultant, Market-Intell LLC.

Brighter days forecast for CelluForce

18 May 2016 By Graeme Rodden. Note: This article is provided to Ahead of the Curve readers as an advance preview of the May/June issue of Paper360°, which mails later this week.

Coffee, tea, or… innovation

11 May 2016 A paper leaf that dissolves into a cup of tea—a soothing skin treatment in a disposable mask—a confection tucked into a cocoa wrapper. These imaginative products aren’t from a fantasy novel; they were born in a new type of fiber-focused laboratory. These creations represent the innovative spirit that LeafLAB, a design company operating within Schweitzer-Mauduit International (SWM), is hoping to capture in its alternative-fiber products. The mission of the LeafLAB team is to use revolutionary fiber-recycling technologies to bring new botanical product concepts to life.