Conversion of newsprint machines to packaging production is at trend that is here to stay, it is even likely to accelerate the coming year, according to Recycling Today.
'We expect to see more conversions,' Bill Moore, president of US-based paper recycling consulting specialist Moore & Associates, said a quoted by Recycling Today ,
According to him, newsprint production in the USA and Canada has tumbled from 13.78 million tonnes in 2002 to 5.86 million tonnes in 2015.
Containerboard production is likely to increase due to these conversions.
International Paper's agreement to buy Holmen Paper Madrid and to convert the newsprint machine for packaging production by the second half of next year is expected to create an additional annual demand for nearly 400 000 tonnes of OCC grades in Spain over the medium term.
The European Recovered Paper Association's president Merja Helander of Finland went on to say: 'The paper and board industry is changing the product line of machines from graphic to board production with such a speed that, one day, we will see overcapacity in these products.'
