CHICAGO, IL — La Rochette Venizel, a French-based biochemical producer, has made a lignin-based product that it says has many qualities: binder, emulsifier or dispersing agent. Called Novibond, a che…
CHICAGO, IL — La Rochette Venizel, a French-based biochemical producer, has made a lignin-based product that it says has many qualities: binder, emulsifier or dispersing agent. Called Novibond, a chemical agent obtained from processing lignin, the range of lignosulphate polymers produced results from the way in which the lignin is processed. During the heat treatment of wood, the extracted lignin is sulphonated, resulting in it becoming water-soluble, and thereby creating a complex polymer, lignosulphate. Simply put, various products come about from the conversion of such salts as calcium, ammonium, sodium and magnesium and, as well, on the reduction of sugars, or polymerization. Each derivative has a particular characteristic, making it suitable for various uses. For example, as a dispersant, it retards the deposit of insolubles in aqueous solutions. This dispersing property applies to paints, refractory materials and water treatment.
Circle Reader Service No. 5.uction capacity. OSB continues to capture market share from plywood in construction and industrial applications. The company is building a $115-million (US), 500-million-ft2 (3/8-in. basis) OSB mill in Joanna, SC, which is scheduled to begin production early in 2000. In addition, the company said it is actively pursuing acquisition prospects, and assessing sites for future greenfield mills. “These new facilities will further strengthen Nexfor’s position among the leaders in North American OSB production. Our OSB mills are modern, efficient and low cost, and that gives us a distinct competitive strength,” Gammiero added.
ENVIRONMENT: STANDARDS COUNCIL CERTIFIES ENVIRO BODY
OTTAWA, ON — The Standards Council of Canada, the federal crown corporation that oversees the National Standards System, has accredited the Canadian Environmental Auditing Association (CEAA) as a certification organization for conducting ISO 14000 environmental management systems (EMS) audits. The Standards Council accreditation criteria for EMS registrars require that their auditors and lead auditors are certified by an accredited or recognized certification organization. CEAA is the first such organization to receive accreditation by the Standards Council. Besides giving accreditation to organization, the Standards Council operates an accreditation program for organizations that do EMS auditor training. For more information, visit its Web site at www.scc.ca.
BRIEFLY
Scott Paper Limited, a wholly owned subsidy of Montreal-based Kruger Inc., said it is looking at the possibility of opening a new production facility in Alberta for the production of tissue paper.
Spruce Falls Inc., Kapuskasing, ON, has garnered ISO 14001 certification, the internationally recognized environmental management standard, for three of its business units: the newsmill, the woodlands operation and the sawmill operations. Spruce Falls is part of Montreal-based Tembec Inc.’s publishing papers and newsprint group.
St. Laurent Paperboard Inc. of Montreal began trading its common stock on the New York Stock Exchange, and is listed under the trading symbol SLW. Among the reasons cited for the move are that the company has 60% of its assets in the US and 80% of its sales transactions are in US dollars.
Stora Enso Oyj, Europe’s top paper producer, said it will sell power plants worth two billion euros (about $3.2-billion) to help finance a drive to overtake International Paper Co. as the world’s largest forest products company. The company will sell most of its power plants, except those that are near its paper mills and generate electricity to them. The sale will start immediately and continue through 2000.
The APE Research Council of Washington, DC, has released a new study whose central finding is that laboratory rats exposed to low doses of octylphenol (OP) suffered no adverse effects to their reproductive systems. “The study casts serious doubt on the results of some previous studies on OP and on the theory that current toxicity testing is inadequate to address affects from low doses of endocrine active chemicals,” the APE said. OP is used to make octylphenol ethoxylate (OPE) surfactants, a class of alkylphenol ethoxylate (APE) compounds.
MODERNIZATION: KRUGER INVESTS $51M ON QUEBEC MILL
MONTREAL, QC — Kruger plans to spend $51 million to update its 640-t/d newsprint mill in Bromptonville, QC. The project is financed by Investissement Qubec, a provincial government body. Among other things, the 14-month modernization project will double the capacity of the deinking facility, which dates to 1992 — to 140 000 tonnes from 70 000 tonnes. “The increase in capacity of the deinking plant will allow an increase in the percentage of recycled fibres contained in the paper manufactured at the Trois-Rivires mill and the Bromptonville mill,” the company said in a press release. Over the last decade, Kruger has invested more than $160 million in the mill. The company has also noted that the current project will create some jobs, adding to the 470 employees who work at Bromptonville.
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