BRUKS WASTE HANDLING SYSTEMS BOOST SUSTAINABILITY AT PCA MILL

Bruks Siwertell has secured a new material waste handling contract from returning customer Packaging Corporation of America (PCA). The new receiving hopper, screw conveyors, and a conventional idler belt conveyor will handle rejects from old corrugated cardboard (OCC) to fuel boilers for power production at the company’s Jackson, southwest Alabama, US, containerboard mill.

“OCC rejects handling systems help operators convert waste into valuable energy,” says Pedro Alfaro, Project Development Engineer, Bruks Siwertell. “They are a good sustainability step and also deliver significant economic advantages, enabling operators to offset substantial energy demands.”

PCA is the third largest producer of containerboard products and the third largest producer of uncoated freesheet paper in North America. Equipment from Bruks Siwertell is a feature at several of its eight mills and 90 corrugated products plants.

To meet a growing strong demand for US domestic packaging, the company made the decision earlier this year to convert production machinery (No 3) from paper to linerboard at the Jackson mill. PCA plans to convert the 365,000 ton/year paper machine to a 700,000 ton/year high-performance, virgin kraft linerboard machine in a phased development over the next three years.

As part of these changes, it needed robust, proven equipment that was capable of handling coarser OCC rejects at high efficiencies and a system that could meter the flow of the waste material as well.

The Bruks equipment will have a combined OCC reject handling capacity of 5.4 to 10.9 metric tons/hour (6-12 short tons/hour).

“Our design delivers the reliability and robustness that the mill requires, and is cost-competitive,” adds Alfaro.

Bruks Siwertell will deliver and install the hopper and conveyors, interfacing them with existing machinery, in February 2022, with completion scheduled five weeks from delivery.