P&PRC 2014: Quality continues to challenge mill buyers

The dwindling supply of quality deinked news (No. 8) was one of the key points brought up during the "Mill Buyers Panel," held Oct. 9, 2014, at the annual Paper & Plastic Recycling Conference in Chicago.

 

Along with the decline in the supply of deinked news, other points brought up during the session were the soaring levels of contaminants and outthrows found in many bales, the changing roles that MRFs (material recovery facilities) are playing in the paper industry and how transportation issues also are becoming a greater concern.

 

Moderating the session, Bill Moore, a principal with the Atlanta-based consulting group Moore & Associates, noted that the mills represented on the panel included a newsprint producer (Resolute), a board company (Smurfit Kappa), a tissue company (Wausau Paper) and a molded pulp producer (Huhtamaki Inc.). Additionally, Moore noted that the panel provided a geographical cross-section of the paper industry, with locations in the Southwest, Midwest, the Northeast and Canada.

 

Andrew Kern, with Smurfit Kappa, discussed the size and global coverage of the company. He noted that Smurfit Kappa, headquartered in Dublin, has a vast global footprint, with a presence in six continents. Kern addressed the company’s Texas mill, which is a large consumer of old corrugated containers (OCC) and has had to deal with carrier stock and wet strength material being mixed in with OCC loads. 

 

Also posing a problem, Kern added, is broken glass in many loads.

 

Jerry Donahue, the buyer for Huhtamaki Inc.’s Wavervliet, Maine, molded pulp facility, also noted that his company, which has traditionally relied on No. 8 news and white blank news for its raw material, has been challenged by the decline in newsprint as well as by the growth in single-stream processing, which has degraded the quality level of the fiber.

 

Andrew Inneo, with the Canada-based Resolute Forest Products, echoed Donohue’s concern. Inneo said Resolute, a large newsprint producer, has suffered from the decline in newsprint generation, one of the key raw materials that the mill uses, along with coated groundwood section and overissue news, as the raw material for its recycled newsprint product.

 

In addressing the quality problems, he pointed out that as recently as 2007 bales the company had been buying were about a 7 percent outthrows with 1.5 percent prohibitives. Now, he said, the outthrow and prohibitive levels have more than doubled, making it that much more difficult grade to handle.

 

Chris Villano, representing the tissue sector with Wausau Paper' Middletown, Ohio, mill, said his company also is confronted with potential supply shortages. The company takes in deinked grades and office pack as its raw materials.

 

Another factor discussed during the session was managing the transportation. Villano pointed out that Wausau has to “beef up our inventory to make sure we have the fiber for our needs.” 

 

Donohue agreed, pointing out that he tries to have between two to three weeks of inventory on hand. In fact, he noted, a logistics firm handles the company’s transportation. 

 

The four mill buyers also discussed some of the other pertinent issues they are dealing with. Kern noted that for his mill moisture isn’t much of a problem. “As a rule 12 percent is allowed. After that there is a deduction.”

 

Villano noted that his company, while not measuring moisture content, tries to avoid what he termed “questionable loads.”

 

Donohue said his company also does not test, however, if problems are present will reject loads.

 

Inneo, however, said that because of Resolute’s large supply requirements, the company really needs to take as much of the fiber as possible.

 

While recognizing the problems with questionable materials, all the panelists agreed that mills and their suppliers needed to do a better job of collaboration. One attendee noted, “This is a problem for both MRFs and mills and end consumers.”