Ahead of the Curve Archive

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.

3 Things about the Paper Industry I Wish I’d Learned Sooner

04 May 2016 By Sarah Garchinsky I come from a research and development background, with no previous paper experience. Now that I’m working regularly in mills, here are a few things that I wish I learned sooner about the paper industry.

We need a common language to describe lignin

27 Apr 2016 By Anna Jacobs and Fredrik Aldaeus What do we mean when we say “lignin”? The answer depends on who you ask. A wood chemist probably regards lignin as a macromolecule with a certain chemical structure.

ORNL uses lignin to improve thermoplastic

20 Apr 2016 Your car's bumper is probably made of a moldable thermoplastic polymer called ABS, shorthand for its acrylonitrile, butadiene and styrene components. Light, strong and tough, it is also the stuff of ventilation pipes, protective headgear, kitchen appliances, Lego bricks and many other consumer products. Useful as it is, one of its drawbacks is that it is made using chemicals derived from petroleum.

ISRI Survey: Paper Mills Weigh In on Mixed-Waste Recycling

13 Apr 2016 Contamination, odor, and excessive moisture are just a few of the reasons that paper mill fiber buyers cite for rejecting paper stock from mixed waste processing centers. This finding is part of the preliminary results from a survey conducted by the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI).

China’s Recovered Paper Import Demand Over the Next Five Years: Don’t Get Your Hopes Up

06 Apr 2016 After falling continuously in 2013 and 2014, Chinese recovered paper imports rebounded by about 6% from 27.5 million metric tons in 2014 to 29 million metric tons in 2015, just slightly less than the peak level of 30 million metric tons in 2012. More than 55% of the import increase came from Western Europe, while the United States accounted for only 20% of China’s import growth.

Attracting Engineering Grads

30 Mar 2016 It’s spring and that means days are getting warmer, nights are getting shorter, and flowers are blooming; it also means thousands of soon-to-be engineers are looking for jobs. Before hiring a young engineer they must first know about your organization.