Eska Graphic Board, a Dutch manufacturer of graphic board with two plants in Hoogezand and Sappemeer, has signed a contract with Leroux & Lotz Technologies for the construction of a gasifier at its site in Hoogezand.
After a long process of litigation due to appeals launched by people living near the factory, Eska Graphic Board has been vindicated on all the points that were contested. The legal victory has paved the way for the construction of the gasifier, which should come into operation in the second half of 2016.
When waste paper is processed into cardboard, some residues from the waste paper are left over. These residues are known as rejects and they currently need to be transported off site for incineration.
In its new gasification plant, Eska Graphic Board will convert these rejects into gas and use this to generate steam for its own board-processing machinery. By converting the rejects into fuel on-site, the plant will consume 18 million cubic metres less natural gas every year in its production process. This is the equivalent of the natural gas consumption of 11,000 average Dutch families in a year. The construction of the reject gasifer is an important step towards optimizing the energy-efficiency of the plant. It represents significant progress towards the goal of halving the energy consumption of the paper and board manufacturing sector by 2020 and reducing CO2 emissions.
The construction of the gasification plant will require an investment of €14.5 million, which will be realized partly through a subsidy of €4 million.
