Pulp and papermakers celebrate at a World First

By Mark Rushton, Editor, Pulp & Paper International Magazine, RISI

MUNICH, GERMANY, Nov. 2, 2009 (RISI) - The city of Munich was witness to a World First late last week as pulp and paper makers from all around the globe stepped out from under the burden of tough times to attend the very first PPI Awards. The awards have been designed to celebrate achievements in this unique and remarkable industry, and judging by the delight on the winners' faces, the event did not disappoint. The event drew in a crowd of professionals from all the papermaking country powerhouses including Brazil, Canada, China, India and the USA, as well as some from closer to home from Germany, Finland and Sweden.

The categories were designed to highlight the most important areas of the industry as it goes through challenging times, including quality, efficiency, the environment, and the advances in the use of bioenergy and biofuel development, but there were also individual awards in the areas of mill management, research, and for the first time, a RISI Global CEO.

The winners responded with real passion on receiving their awards, one of them, Jaana Ahlroos, sales and marketing manager at Grycksbo Paper, who collected the prize for Promotional / Sales / Marketing Campaign of the Year, said, "Winning the award was a great honor for us and we are very proud. We are a small company, and this is a big award to win. It is so good to get this kind of high level recognition for the work we have put in on what is the first digital media promotional campaign in the industry. Our campaign has not only strengthened our brand, but has also helped to bring our customers something to smile about in difficult times." Ilkka Hiirsalmi, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications, Paper and Fiber Technology at Metso commented, "We were proud to be associated with the PPI Awards program as the headline sponsor, as we strongly believe that promoting best practices in this way can truly contribute to our industry's success."

Initially the PPI Awards were created to celebrate 50 years of PPI magazine, but such was the enthusiastic reception to the event, RISI has decided that it should be an annual event. Look out for entry forms to the PPI Awards 2010.

PPI AWARDS 2009 WINNERS:

ADVANCED USE OF BIO-ENERGY - Sponsored by Metso (www.metso.com) CASCADES

EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENTS OF THE YEAR - Sponsored by Metso (www.metso.com) FINCH PAPER

GLOBAL CEO OF THE YEAR - Sponsored by Stepchange Consulting (www.stepchange.com) JIM RUBRIGHT, ROCK TENN

BUSINESS STRATEGY OF THE YEAR - Sponsored by Stepchange Consulting (www.stepchange.com) SUZANO

MILL MANAGER OF THE YEAR - Sponsored by Kadant (www.kadant.com) RIKARD WALLIN, HOLMEN PAPER, BRAVIKEN PAPER MILL, SWEDEN

ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGY OF THE YEAR (MILL) - Sponsored by HP (www.hp.com) SCA - ORTVIKEN PAPER MILL, SWEDEN

PROMOTIONAL / SALES / MARKETING CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR - Sponsored by HP (www.hp.com) GRYCKSBO PAPER

ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGY OF THE YEAR (COMPANY) - Sponsored by Cargill (www.cargillindustrialstarches.com) STORA ENSO

INNOVATIVE PRODUCT OF THE YEAR - Sponsored by BTG (www.btg.com) SAPPI FINE PAPER EUROPE

RESEARCH ACHIEVEMENT OF THE YEAR - Sponsored by Kemira (www.kemira.com) SÖDRA CELL - JOAKIM NYGREN