Imerys And Burgo Group Join Forces To Reduce Mineral Waste In Paper And Board Production

Imerys and long-standing Italian Paper & Packaging customer, Burgo Group, are working hand in hand at the Burgo Ardennes site to reprocess calcium carbonate produced during the pulp production process for reuse in Burgo’s paper manufacturing. The collaboration is helping Burgo reduce waste and support its GO 2030 roadmap targets.

Supporting our customers’ circular economy ambitions
Paper and board producers are under increasing pressure to reduce waste, improve resource efficiency and lower their carbon footprint. One key challenge is to find viable uses for post-industrial byproducts generated at the pulp mill, to prevent them from being sent to stockpiles or costly disposal routes.

In recent years, Burgo Group and Imerys have been teaming up to tackle the valorization of post-industrial waste and byproducts. The partnership has already culminated in the reprocessing of lime byproducts — a solution that not only contributes to mitigating waste, but to reducing the use of virgin calcium carbonate ore.

A shared commitment to sustainable solutions
Operating nine paper mills in Italy and one at Ardennes in Belgium, Burgo is one of Europe’s leading producers of graphic papers, specialty papers and containerboard for the packaging sector, with customers in over 70 countries. Imerys has been working closely with Burgo since the 2000s.

Sustainable development is at the heart of the Burgo Group’s business at all stages of its supply chain and production process — from the purchase and circular use of resources, to the discharge of wastewater and the optimisation and utilization of waste.

More recently, the company has made a commitment to pursuing an innovation policy that is responsible towards the environment, actively seeking sustainable solutions where circularity is a model behind all its processes.

Giving calcium carbonate byproducts a second life
To support Burgo’s commitment to circularity, Imerys’ Paper & Packaging team has been collaborating with Burgo’s Ardennes pulp and paper mill in Belgium.

The purpose of the partnership is to recycle high volumes of excess calcium carbonate, generated as a byproduct of Burgo’s pulp production process, into value products for reuse further down the value chain — initially as a paper filler, and more recently, as a coating pigment.

The excess calcium carbonate is generated in the soda generation circuit of the pulp process and directly reinjected into the lime regeneration circuit where it is converted to quicklime. However, during lime kiln shutdowns an excess of calcium carbonate is generated which, prior to the recovery project, was stored in an intermediate stock.

This post-industrial lime by-product is unsuitable for use directly as is, and needs to be carefully re-processed before it can be reinjected back into the papermaking process.

From post-industrial byproduct to valuable resource
Under the terms of the partnership, the byproduct is collected and transferred to Imerys’ Lixhe processing plant, 170 kilometers to the north of the Burgo Ardennes site, where it undergoes a complex treatment.

The resulting mineral solutions contain an amount of recycled material, which allow us to reuse up to 10 kt/y whilst delivering similar performance to a coating pigment produced from 100% virgin calcium carbonate.

Designed by Imerys’ Paper & Packaging team, the new grade not only provides an important channel for reutilizing Burgo’s post-industrial by-products, but is repurposed into a valuable coating pigment which improves coating rheology whilst conferring brightness to the final paper product.

By developing this approach together, Burgo and Imerys have created a new circular solution which prevents thousands of tonnes of post-industrial by-product from the pulping process ending up as waste. The material has been given a second life, first as a paper filler and, now as a high-performance coating pigment, which allows Imerys, in turn, to reduce the use of virgin raw material. - Peter Biza, Technical Support Specialist Paper & Packaging, Imerys

Burgo's commitment to circularity challenged us to think differently about how post-industrial mineral byproducts can be reused within the paper value chain. The result is a robust recycled coating solution that helps Burgo reutilize their wastestream, while delivering the high performance they require for their paper applications. We would like to thank Burgo for their trust on this project and for their partnership. We believe this approach has the potential to inspire similar initiatives across the paper and packaging industry — and beyond. - Armando Villasmil, Vice President Polymers, Adhesives, Rubber, Paints, Paper & Packaging, Imerys

This project demonstrates that circularity is not achieved by a single company, but through collaboration across the value chain. Together with Imerys, we have transformed a process byproduct into a valuable resource. This partnership supports the objectives of Burgo’s GO 2030 roadmap and shows how industrial ecology and shared innovation can create value for all stakeholders. We look forward to further developing similar circular solutions in the future. - Valerio Forti, Burgo Group HSE, Sustainability, Integrated Management System Director

Through the collaboration, Burgo has been able to transform a process byproduct into a valuable resource that can be reused within its paper value chain. The project demonstrates how finding synergies like these can help advance our customers’ circularity goals — whilst reducing our reliance on virgin raw materials — unlocking new opportunities for sustainable growth for both parties.