São Paulo, September 12, 2018 – Klabin, Brazil’s leading producer and exporter of packaging paper and the country’s only company to offer hardwood, softwood and fluff pulp from a single industrial unit entirely designed for this purpose, announces today that a R$32 million investment was approved for its research and development program, involving the construction of a Pilot Mill Complex, at the Monte Alegre Unit, in Telêmaco Borba (Paraná).

It is a project that will allow for the simulation of a mill where studies and tests will be conducted in research fields such as microfibrillated pulp (MFC), which will be incorporated to the company’s paper production lines, increasing the quality and resistance of Klabin products, and lignin, in this case for commercial purposes, enabling the company to enter new markets for renewable and sustainable products. Klabin, because of its diversified wood base, has lignin from pine, eucalyptus and the mixing of both species, providing unique products to the market.

Last year, the company inaugurated a modern Technology Center able to produce a broad range of forestry products and run simulations of the mills’ production lines, anticipating trends and developing technologies and sustainable applications. “All activities in our Technology Center are on a laboratory scale. Just over a year after its inauguration, we achieved a level of development maturity that makes it necessary to produce some materials on a larger scale, enabling prolonged industrial tests. That gave rise to the need to create a Pilot Mill Complex, which should be operational in the fourth quarter of 2019,” explained Francisco Razzolini, Klabin’s Industrial Technology, Innovation, Sustainability and Pulp Business Officer.

Klabin also announced this year the acquisition of a 12.5% interest in the Israeli startup Melodea Bio Based Solutions, a pioneer in the technology for extracting cellulose nanocrystalline (CNC), a 100% biobased and renewable product.“The Pilot Mill Complex reinforces our focus on the development of bioeconomical solutions that value the responsible, efficient and sustainable use of resources,” says Razzolini.

KLACUPBIO

Aligned to the major behavior trends and attentive to consumer needs, Klabin announces the production of a new paperboard specifically for the cup stock market. The new product, called “KlaCup – Bio”, is part of the paperboard product line for cups, and is unique in the Brazilian market as it is made from pine and eucalyptus fibers, a mix that offers greater resistance and an unique print quality, and also has a biodegradable barrier, thus eliminating the use of polyethylene. The company has also already developed “KlaCup Natural Kraft”, with one side in brown, typical of kraft paper, following a trend of packaging that is more sustainable and less damaging to the environment.

“Based on all our knowledge and experience as Brazilian paperboard producer for liquids, we studied and developed a unique solution for the disposable cups market.Klacup has the quality already provided by Klabin to the largest industries in the food and beverage sector,” says Flávio Deganutti, Paper Sales Officer at Klabin.

The new paperboard, just like the other products by the company, is made from planted and certified forests, or in other words, renewable and sustainable sources, in addition to being recyclable.Produced at the Monte Alegre Unit, in Telêmaco Borba (PR), KlaCup Natural Kraft is already being marketed by Klabin and has shown growing demand in Brazil.