Paper production within the Kunert Group will be even more ecological in the future. As of 2015, our paper mill Papeteries du Rhin in Illzach, on the Rhine, will obtain about 80 percent of the amount of steam it requires via the incineration of household waste. The waste incineration plant Mulhouse supplies steam it generates from thermal energy.

Less CO2

Together with the administration union of the Mulhouse region and the French energy saving agency, Papeteries du Rhin finance a steam supply network of about 1,200 metres length between the waste incineration plant and the paper mill. Thus, 52 gigawatt hours of thermal energy arrive at the mill every year – environmentally friendly energy, which enables the factory to reduce CO2 emissions by more than 70 percent.

Via the pipe system, the steam arrives directly at the steam-heated drying cylinders of the dryer section where moisture is extracted from the paper webs. Positive side effect: Along the same route, the paper mill’s industrial water is led to the sewage plant of the municipality, which is located directly next to the incineration plant. Thus, the paper mill saves on an own plant, the sewage plant’s utilisation rate is improved and the industrial water is purified under state-of-the-art conditions.