Iggesund Paperboard now uses biomass to power its paperboard mill, instead of fossil natural gas. The new biomass CHP plant in Workington, England, is now online, the supplier has announced.

To put it all in perspective, the reduction of fossil carbon emissions that will be reduced due to the new biomass boiler is equivalent to the emissions from more than 58,000 cars being driven over 12,000 miles per year.

In addition, the new self-sufficient mill will be able to supply both green electricity and heat to local residents.

Iggesund Paperboard in Workington is the UK’s only producer of folding box board. Incada, the paperboard made at the mill, is constructed of a central layer made of mechanical pulp produced on site, which gives a low weight combined with high stiffness.

“For more than a decade now Iggesund Paperboard has invested to raise the standard of what was originally a very ordinary paperboard mill to one that is state of the art. Including the 108 million pounds spent on the CHP plant, we have invested more than 200 million pounds in this transformation,” said Ola Schultz-Eklund, the mill’s managing director.

Schultz-Eklund continues, “In our investment in this new biomass CHP plant, profitability and reduced climate impact go hand in hand. We know that the cost of fossil-based energy will increase faster than that of biomass, so we regard this investment as a way to stabilise our energy costs. At the same time, our emissions of fossil carbon dioxide from the production process have now fallen to almost zero — which should reasonably make us an even more interesting option for the large end users, who have more or less promised consumers that they will both declare and reduce the emissions created by the products they sell.”

Photo: Iggesund Paperboard’s new biomass plant, in Workington, England.