SMURFIT Kappa has announced it is investing almost $100 million in a sustainable biomass boiler tipped to reduce the paper packaging specialist’s global Scope 1 and Scope 2 CO2 emissions by around 6%.
The firm has already implemented biomass boilers at several other locations including the Nervion, Piteå and Sangüesa paper mills in Europe.
The boiler, which will be constructed at its paper mill in Yumbo, Colombia, will replace the fossil fuels currently used with different types of organic waste to generate cleaner energy. Smurfit Kappa explained the organic waste will be comprised of pine and eucalyptus bark from the company’s own forestry plantations, waste from its wood treatment plant, and ashes and sludge generated during the paper manufacturing process.
Laurent Sellier, CEO of Smurfit Kappa in the Americas, said, “This investment reinforces our commitment to Colombia, a strategic growth market, and to our sustainability targets. The commissioning of this state-of-the-art biomass boiler is a further material step towards our 2030 and net zero emissions targets and to protecting the environment and creating a greener world.”
The new boiler is expected to be operational by the end of 2024.
