• Klabin
• Reciclying at Klabin

As the largest recycler of paper in Brazil, Klabin has a handling capacity of 400 thousand tons of waste paper per year. The company manufactures 17% of the recycled papers for corrugated board in the Brazilian market, which totaled 2006 was 2.2 million tons.

The results of this strategy are evident: reductions in the need for virgin fiber, in the volume of urban waste, and in production costs, and on the other hand generation of income for the market of curbside collectors and waste dealers. Klabin’s recycled papers are used mainly in its own corrugated box plants.

Of all the waste paper recycled by Klabin, 65 thousand tons of its raw material comes from 9 of its own corrugated box plants. During the box production process, cuttings and clippings are generated which are then returned to the plants making the recycled paper. This recycling loop is made within the company. However, the vast majority is supplied by the market, through waste dealers (companies specialized in waste paper).

As the leader in this sector, Klabin made a commitment to promote recycling throughout its entire production chain. The process itself signifies an important social contribution, by providing work for thousands of curbside collectors countrywide. This objective is reaffirmed by the company’s participation in Cempre (Compromisso Empresarial para Reciclagem), an association maintained by private companies from various sectors, and dedicated to the promotion of recycling within the concept of integrated waste management. Cempre is focused on making society aware of the need to reduce, re-utilize and recycle, with the help of articles, technical research, seminars and data banks. Klabin’s recycled papers are used mainly in its own corrugated box plants.

The pioneering development of state-of-the-art Plasma technology for recycling long-life packages is an example of Klabin’s commitment to recycling and reduction of environmental impacts.

In May 2005 the EET company’s recycling plant was inaugurated in Piracicaba, Sao Paulo, as a result of the partnership between Klabin, Tetra Pak, Alcoa and TSL Ambiental. Its process allows the aluminum, the polyethylene film and the cellulose fibers to be separated from each other. Until now, the aluminum and plastic remained stuck together after the paper had been separated out, and was used as material for roofing tiles, sheeting and so on. The separation of these elements adds value to the post-consumer packaging and allows a complete cycle of re-use. As well as reducing environmental impacts, this initiative also motivates the recycling market, by benefiting curbside collectors and companies which recycle materials.

To develop this technology and install the plant, the companies invested more than R$ 13 million.

Get to know Klabin’s recycled products

 

Get to know Klabin’s recycled paper mills

• Klabin is the largest paper recycler in Brazil, with a recycling capacity of 400 thousand tons of paper per year, and has recycling plants in Ponte Nova, in Minas Gerais; Guapimirim, in Rio de Janeiro; Piracicaba, in Sao Paulo; and Goiana, in Pernambuco.
• The company uses approximately 60% recycled paper in its production of corrugated boxes. Of the 520 thousand tons of paper used annually for box manufacture, 210 thousand tons are virgin-fiber paper and 310 thousand tons are recycled paper.