Cartiera del Chiese’s industrial sacks a winner

By Martin Koepenick, Innova

BRUSSELS, Aug. 12, 2009 (RISI) - Cartiera del Chiese, a family owned sack kraft mill 100 km east of Milan in northern Italy, continues to find a niche for its recycled sack kraft grades, largely through an entrepreneurial approach to markets, and a deep commitment to pioneering technology.

Enzo Fenotti, president, and co-founder of Cartiera del Chiese, insists that a small mill must be very focused and creative to compete. The Fenotti and Comini families made the decision in 1975 to employ 100% waste paper to make pulp, remaining dedicated to this philosophy ever since. Says Fenotti, "Our raw material advantage, combined with ‘green' high performance and energy saving technologies, gives us strength as a company to compete in emerging markets."

Fenotti attributes much of the success to recycled pulping equipment provided by Kadant, which it has partnered with for several decades. Cartiera del Chiese has four pulpers, and soon all of them will employ the latest Kadant Helisoft turbine technology, lowering the energy costs of pulping by 30%.

Mill manager Giovanbattista Beretta, left, with Enzo Fenotti, co-founder of Cartiera del Chiese

Market focus

Second generation Enrico Fenotti, director of sales and marketing, who plays a key role in strategy says, "Our large industrial sacks for concrete are considered in the top tier, and have helped us secure a high market share in developing markets such as North Africa and Eastern Europe. Even with the economic crisis, customers continue to choose our products."

To produce top products from recycled fiber, Cartiera del Chiese tightly controls the quality of product received from its suppliers. Continues Enzo Fenotti, "Our success has always combined three key ingredients: long fiber-rich raw material, technology with the finesse to achieve desired properties in the sheet, and an eye for new markets."

The company has two main grades on the market; a high-porosity printing grade similar to a Scandinavian product, and a B-level that has a higher quality than most second-level grades, but a more competitive price structure.

Continues Enrico, "Our ability to utilize waste paper instead of virgin pulp to produce a high quality sack gives us a big advantage. However, in the economic crisis building companies have currently reduced demand, presenting a challenge for us, even in markets where huge building projects for entirely new cities are underway.

"Morocco alone has plans for 14 cities with governmental funding of close to 30 billion Euro. That's a lot of concrete for houses. Egypt and Algeria have ambitious plans, too."

Employing 100% recycled fiber, customers confirm that Cartiera del Chiese’s sacks rival high value-added offerings from leading Scandinavian virgin kraft producers

From "poor" raw material to "rich" fiber

The quality of raw material selected by Cartiera del Chiese is actually very high, even though contamination of plastics and a wide range of debris make it seem low. Comments Enzo, "The joint developments and cooperation with Kadant Lamort has allowed us to extract exceptional quality long fiber, giving us a performance and cost advantage. The Kadant pulpers allow for precise separation of long fibers from the short. Gentle handling of the long fiber continues from pulping through refining and screening. Short fiber also receives special attention, before it is re-combined with the long fiber.

Enrico Fenotti, director of sales marketing: “Our large industrial sacks are considered top tier and have helped us secure a high market share in developing markets such as North Africa and Eastern Europe.”

Design enhancements

According to Giovanbattista Beretta, Cartiera del Chiese's mill manager, the compressor used to be full length of the screw. Now it's divided. The first section transports raw material to the second part. At a lower speed, capable of speed adjustments because of an inverter on the engine, pulping occurs at about 40°C.

"We are always open to try something new. A long partnership with Kadant Lamort, based on trust, is ideal for both of us. When they have something new, we evaluate the potential carefully, and often, we become the pioneers."

Beretta, left, with Enrico Fenotti

Beretta notes that Kadant Lamort engineers and applications specialists have continuously been available to understand our needs and offer new possibilities. "Treated wet strength recycled papers were difficult for us to pulp, but now that's no longer an issue. In a similar way, contaminated plastics, or hot melts, can be very troubling to separate from the fiber. Again, Kadant helped us overcome this ‘sticky' problem."

The Helisoft Pulper rotor is made from a single solid stainless steel casting. Its shape ensures complete circulation of the stock at the highest possible consistency.

As recycled fiber and water are introduced, the high consistency pulping allows for high inter-fiber friction. The result is a superior defibering rate at the highest possible consistency.

For deinking applications such as this, the strong friction effect enables efficient ink detachment. The low speed of the turbine does not induce contaminant fractionation, which facilitates the removal of fragile contaminants.

Helisoft benefits are claimed to be:
• Superior defibering at consistency up to 18% with kraft fibers and up to 20% with deinking stock
• Highest achievable ink detachment for deinking applications
• Highly efficient separation of fibrous and non-fibrous materials such as plastics, films, adhesives, latex book bindings, without breaking them, making subsequent removal easier
• Savings in chemicals, steam and energy
• Reduced contaminant fractionation
• Virtually flake free accepts for non wet strength
• Automatic and integrated de-trashing options.

Enzo Fenotti examines a Helisoft Pulper rotor blade. Historically, Cartiera del Chiese has invested in technology to achieve the highest level of quality possible. Their modernized Helisoft pulpers from Kadant allow for maximum results from long fiber, and energy savings of up to 30% during pulping

Energy savings a big plus

Cartiera del Chiese places a high priority on energy savings. Based on Kadant Lamort's new turbines, all four pulpers will soon achieve a 25-30% reduction in energy use. The basic pulping system installed 25 years ago has become far more efficient with the new turbine screws. The new turbine design also requires less chemicals

during the repulping phase. The plant's initial modernization paid for itself in less than one year.

The mill's own gas turbine allows it to product electricity while using turbine exhaust to produce steam for the paper machine.

Concludes Fenotti, "When the market picks up again, we will be ready to invest and implement the latest technologies. As consumption goes down in the Western countries, we will find the niche opportunities, wherever they may be."

Martin Koepenick, Innova, Atlanta, GA, has written about innovations in papermaking for more than 25 years.

Pulp & Paper International is FREE to qualified subscribers. Click here to find out more.