Packaging

Smurfit-Stone Uses New Technology, Strategic Partnerships to Increase Fiber Recovery

Wednesday 25. June 2008 - Demand for recycled fiber is at an all time high and is expected to grow, Mike Oswald, senior vice president and general manager of Smurfit-Stone's Recycling Division said today at the 9th annual Paper Recycling Conference & Trade Show in Chicago.

Oswald made his remarks as a participant in the “Made in the USA” discussion panel, which focused on companies that are investing in papermaking and paper recycling in North America.

Already one of the world’s largest recyclers, Smurfit-Stone is investing in enhanced sort system technology and forming strategic partnerships with external customers to increase the recovery of paper and other recyclables from the waste stream.

“With record rates of recovery and demand for recyclables, the easy to reclaim fiber is already being recovered,” Oswald said. “The next round of volume must come from the waste stream.”

Smurfit-Stone’s Recycling Division collected a record 7 million tons of recyclables, including 6.8 million tons of paper, in 2007, and exported a company record 1.13 million tons of fiber, an increase of 8.1 percent over 2006.

Enhanced system technology is making it easier, safer and more economically feasible to take co-mingled loads and extract paper and other recyclables from the municipal solid waste stream, Oswald said. Placed in front of landfills or at municipal waste transfer stations, enhanced sort systems process solid waste loads using a series of mechanically separating screens, discs, magnets and air currents to separate various recyclable materials into their base components.

Smurfit-Stone recently installed five of these technologically enhanced sort systems at its recycling plants in Oakland, CA; Torrance, CA; Jacksonville, FL; Tampa, FL; and Seattle, WA. The company has entered partnerships with Waste Services Inc. and Advanced Disposal Services to further increase recovery.

“Customers are demanding a more consultative, total solutions approach to their recycling and waste management needs,” Oswald said. “By continuing to find new ways to collect fiber and other materials from our sourcing customers, our recycling operations are becoming more and more valuable to our customers who require sustainable waste management and recycling solutions.”