Press Release 3/98

New Member of INGEDE:

The Swiss Paper Mill Zwingen

Two paper machines produce office papers and
newsprint from recovered paper

The Swiss paper mill Zwingen in a village of the same name south of Basle is the youngest member of INGEDE. The company was founded in 1913, since 1989 it utilises also recovered paper. The deinking plant for post-consumer waste paper that had started operating in 1993 was extended to a capacity of 60,000 tons per year in 1997. After an in­vestment of more than 10 million Swiss Franks, the plant is equipped with the most recent technological developments. The Papier­­fabrik Zwingen AG today is one of the leading Swiss manu­facturers of paper made from 100 per cent recov­ered paper.

The recovered paper, collected mainly in and around Basle, is suspended in water, then two screening units remove coarse and fine impurities from the fibre suspension. A first flotation unit separates the ink particles. A disperger grinds down persistent impurities, such as adhesive residues or large ink particles, that could not be removed until this point. Then the recovered paper suspension is being brightened up with non-polluting hydrogen peroxide. A second flotation step washes out the last impurities. Two paper machines with deckle widths of 2,20 and 2,30 metres, finally every minute produce 500 metres of office paper and 600 metres of news­print.

In Switzerland, the consumers collect newspapers and maga­zines separately from cardboard. This reduces the sorting effort—in Germany the graphic paper that is suitable for the manufacture of new paper has to be sorted laboriously by hand from a mixture with boards and packaging.

INGEDE is an association of leading European paper manu­facturers aiming at promoting utilisation of recovered graphic paper (newsprint and magazines) and improving the condi­tions for an extended use of recovered paper for the produc­tion of graphic and hygiene papers.

October 2, 1998

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