Teams from DS Smith and ANDRITZ gathered following the successful start-up of the stock preparation line featuring a FibreFlow drum pulper at DS Smith's Lucca Mill in Italy
July 14, 2026 - DS Smith has successfully started up an ANDRITZ stock preparation line and reject treatment system at its containerboard mill in Porcari (Lucca), Italy.
The new line has a design capacity of 1,650 tons per day, and processes a wide range of recovered paper grades.
The heart of the new line is a new Drum Pulper — the largest of its type — weighing in at 235 tonnes, measuring 48 metres in length, and boasting a diameter ranging from 4.5 to 5.6 metres.
"The successful start-up of this line is an important milestone for our Porcari mill," said Alessandro Romagnolo, Project Head at DS Smith. "With the new system now in operation, we are able to efficiently process a wide range of recovered paper grades and reliably produce high-quality packaging papers from 100% recycled fiber."
The system is complemented by screens and LC-cleaners that ensure high stock quality and low energy consumption, even under varying raw material conditions.
The reject treatment system includes a shredder and reject compactors for efficient processing of rejects from pulping and coarse screening.
ANDRITZ scope of supply also comprised basic and detail engineering, installation supervision, commissioning, and operator training.
ANDRITZ Pulp & Paper provides sustainable technology, automation, and service solutions for the production of all types of pulp, paper, board and tissue. The technologies and services focus on increased production efficiency, lower overall operating costs as well as innovative decarbonization strategies and autonomous plant operation.
SOURCE: ANDRITZ and DS Smith