News and data on the sector’s path towards sustainability

Toscotec has announced that one of its tissue machines installed by Portuguese tissue manufacturer Fortissue will be upgraded to become the first high-speed machine in the world that can be powered entirely by green electricity – generated by solar and wind farms: a machine which, fully operational by the end of 2024, will be able to function without the use of methane gas also for its thermal energy needs. The energy needed for PM1’s operation will be generated 100% from electricity. The mill will have the flexibility of choosing to get power from the Portuguese grid or by using 100% renewable energy coming from its solar and wind plants. The corresponding greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions will amount to minus 20% in case the tissue line operates from the grid, and net zero GHG emissions if it runs on renewable energy both for its electric and thermal requirements.

Toscotec also has another record: it is the only supplier in the world capable of offering a hood system burner suitable for different fuels: fossil fuels such as methane gas, but also renewable energy such as syngas from biomass and hydrogen with zero greenhouse emissions. Toscotec installs this burner as its standard on all the hood systems it supplies in order to equip paper mills for the energy transition.

Another important technology developed by Toscotec for the energy transition is TT Induction SYD, a steel Yankee dryer that dries paper through the use of electromagnetic induction instead of steam. The Yankee is not yet marketed – it will be from 2025, at the end of the ongoing industrial development process – but is already the subject of international interest as it can be powered by electricity from renewable sources. By eliminating the steam pressurization of the Yankee cylinder, with this innovative technology the problems related to safety controls for pressure vessels are also eliminated.

«It is a process of improving the environmental impact of production in a constant and progressive manner, a process which has already generated very significant positive effects» adds Alessandro Mennucci (AD Toscotec). «We have calculated, for example, that a high performance Toscotec’s tissue machine in 2015 required a total of 2,500 kWh per ton of paper produced – including electricity and thermal energy needs – while in 2024 it requires only 2,000 kWh, which is equivalent to a 26% saving in CO₂ emissions into the atmosphere. Constant dialogue and the exchange of experiences within the paper supply chain, up to the establishment of real partnerships, are key to creating new high-performance technologies, capable of combining productivity, safety and of course sustainability».