Papierfabrik Palm Successfully Commissions New Containerboard Machine, PM5, in Aalen, Germany

July 9, 2021 - Papierfabrik Palm announced the successful start-up of its new paper machine at its paper mill in Aalen, which is in southwest Germany. The EUR 500 million project includes the new paper machine, a new biological wastewater treatment facility, finished goods and raw material warehouses and a combined heat and power plant (CHP).

PM 5, which was supplied by Valmet, has a design speed of 2,000 meters/min. in combination with a trimmed machine width of 10.9 meters. The new machine uses recovered paper as its fiber furnish and at full production has the capacity to produce 750,000 tonnes per year of lightweight testliner and fluting in a basis weight range of 60 - 100 gsm.

PM 5 started-up on July 4 and is already in continuous operation, producing saleable paper to customers, Palm said.

PM 5 replaced three older, smaller machines at the Aalen site.

"The former paper mill with three older paper machines has recently been shut down. The paper machines have been sold for export to Bangladesh, where they will soon cover the increasing paper consumption of the 165 million population. Dismantling of the machines and the old power plant, including the prominent chimney, is already in progress," Palm said in a press release.

According to Palm, "the new paper mill is significantly quieter than the previous. The paper machine hall provides an ideal noise barrier between the national highway on the one side and the residential area on the other.

"A new and revolutionary chimney design was installed on site as well. With this innovation, the typical clouds of steam from the paper mill are no longer visible for the first time worldwide. It represents a milestone for environmentally friendly paper production, the company said."

Palm is one of the leading companies in the European paper industry. The Palm Group is divided into Papierfabrik Palm with its 5 paper mills for the manufacture of paper and Palm Packaging Group with 28 plants for the manufacture of corrugated board. The third pillar of our operations, which encompasses the purchasing of raw materials for all our papers and corrugated boards made from 100% recycled paper are joined under the umbrella of Palm Recycling consisting of two recycling companies. To learn more, visit: www.palm.de.

SOURCE: Papierfabrik Palm GmbH