ÅF and EARTH University team up for banana paper project in Costa Rica

STOCKHOLM, Jan. 12, 2010 (Press Release) - In December, EARTH University and ÅF agreed upon the joint efforts in optimizing the University's own paper machine for banana paper production at the University grounds in Costa Rica. The vast and unique expertise of different pulp and paper making processes within ÅF worldwide was hereby acknowledged and appreciated once again. The Banana Paper Project underwent a number of significant changes and adjustments in the production plant in 2008 and ÅF's current task is to map the path forward, ensuring both manageable and timely correct processes in order to successfully manufacture paper with discarded stalks of the banana plant and recycled office paper for commercial purposes.

The final banana paper product is aimed at such niche markets as printing presses, high-end notebooks, journals and corporate stationary. EARTH themselves have coordinated the first post-consumer paper collection in eleven educational institutions in the area.

The collected material will be combined with banana stalk fiber to produce finished paper.

The overall confidence put in ÅF's consulting services by EARTH shows that the long tradition of serving the pulp and paper industry in all aspects, together with the assembled group of experts found within the ÅF organization, have set a new benchmark in the Americas. ÅF has an exceptionally long history of project experiences with multiple clients in the region, ensuring quality in every project detail.

ÅF's dedicated Paper and Board expert team is one of the pulp and paper industry's most respected and preferred supplier of strategy consulting and engineering for all kinds of pulp & paper mill projects globally.

As part of the ÅF group of consulting companies, they draw from over 100 years of experience and more than 4400 consultants worldwide supplying expertise to the whole pulp and paper making related projects.