The first Belarusian production of office paper from recovered materials launched at Barysaŭ Goznak Paper Mill. The pilot initiative will help to preserve forest resources thanks to the replacing cellulose with waste paper when producing office paper and will expand the use of waste paper as raw material.
Technological conditions for the production of high-quality office paper on the basis of deep recycling of waste paper have been created within the project "Supporting the Transition to a “green” economy in the Republic of Belarus", funded by the European Union and implemented by UNDP in partnership with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Belarus.
Before the implementation of the pilot initiative, the paper mill produced only low-quality paper from recycled paper, blanks and labels and other types of low-grade paper. For the creation of a full-scale recycling line to produce high-quality office paper, the existing line of the enterprise was equipped with additional machines procured for the EU funds.
The production facility has got new equipment – the 90m³ mass pool, the 5m³ waste pool, the sorting device for stages I and II of rough waste sorting, the flotation machine for treatment of excess pulp water, the sieve for the pretreatment unit. Moreover, a new building was constructed on the territory of the enterprise for the installation of the new equipment.
Thanks to the pilot initiative, a technological process was created with a complete cycle of waste paper cleaning and its deep pulping, i.e. for producing office paper from waste paper of lower quality. The new equipment will allow to increase the volume of waste paper recycling to 2,345 tons per year.
The pilot initiative has helped to create an environmentally sustainable production and ensured reaching environmental, economic and social impact.
"European Union provided over 12 million euros for the green economy projects in Belarus,” said Andrea Wiktorin, Head of the EU Delegation to Belarus, Ambassador. “This programme supported 23 demonstration projects over the last two years in Belarus. Goznak Paper Mill was one of them. As a result, here in Barysaǔ there will be significant fresh water and energy savings, reduction of expenses on raw materials and creation new green jobs in the region."
“Pilot initiative on the launch of the first Belarusian production of high-quality office paper from recovered materials will contribute to the solution of the global problem of paper waste recycling and preserving forest resources, ” said Zachary Taylor, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Belarus.
The installation of a new float trap led to an increased closed water circulation, reduction in the consumption of fresh water for paper production from 40 m³/ton to 25 m³/ton, reduction of the suspended matter content in sewage discharged to urban water treatment plants from 70 mg/l to 50 mg/l.
The new equipment is energy-saving and provides savings of up to 100 kW of electricity per production of 1 ton of paper from waste paper or 20,000 kW per year (reduction of expenses by 2,740 euro per year), and savings of up to 0.3 tons of steam per production of 1 ton of paper from waste paper, which when translated into fuel (natural gas) generates a 50,000 m³ reduction in gas consumption per year (reduction of expenses by 14,900 euro per year). Thus, the implemented pilot project will reduce the expenses on fuel and energy resources by 17,640 euro per year.
When the production reaches the designed capacity, it is expected to reduce expenses for the raw materials and materials by replacing cellulose with waste paper, namely 2,345 tons of waste paper will replace 2,345 tons of cellulose per year, which makes up about 35% of the current consumption of bleached cellulose by all production lines of the Barysaŭ Goznak Paper Mill. The expenses on raw materials will be reduced by up to 801,570 euro per year.
The new production of office paper from recovered materials at Barysaŭ Goznak Paper Mill will allow to create 4 new jobs in the region and will improve the working conditions for employees. The implemented pilot project will allow to position the Goznak Paper Mill as a "green" producer of high-quality office paper.
The budget of the pilot initiative on the production of office paper from recovered materials at Barysaŭ Goznak Paper Mill is 860,000 euro. The budget of the project "Supporting the transition to a “green” economy in the Republic of Belarus" for 23 pilot initiatives is 5 million euro in total.
