M-real invests in the production and sustainability at its Kyro mill
Produce more, but with less impact on environment? This is no utopia, but on the contrary, the very concrete goal of M-real. The Europe’s biggest producer of folding boxboards will have invested this year eight million euros in the rebuild of its board machine at M-real Kyro mill in south-west Finland. In parallel, the company has begun the construction of a biopower plant for the production of green electricity based on bark, whole tree chips, crushed stumps and other wood fractions.
Scheduled for November 2011, the rebuild of the board machine at the Kyro site will help increase the annual production of folding boxboard capacity by 40,000 tons to 190,000 tons a year. These investments are part of the 2011-2012 program, for which M-real has already completed the rebuild of its mill in Simpele last June. In spring 2012, it will be the turn of the Äänekoski mill.
The M-real Kyro mill produces in particular the Carta Elega and Avanta Prima ranges, the first, more specifically intended for the beauty industry and the second one used for some personal care and hair colouring products. For the time being, cosmetic and toiletries market accounts for about 20% of the mill’s production.
The rebuild of M-real Kyro is expected to last for about a week in the end of November. The mill is currently increasing its stock levels in reels in order to provide a normal service during the suspension of production.
In parallel, M-real is also investing in a large-scale project, namely the construction of a bioenergy plant, next to the Kyro plant. As part of the joint venture with two local partners, this plant will enable M-real to use wood instead of natural gas, to produce CO2-neutral electricity. The plant, the commissioning of which is expected next fall will cut down CO2 emissions by approximately 100,000 tons per year, equivalent to the annual emissions of 60,000 cars.
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