Saica Group, one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of recycled paper for corrugated cardboard and sustainable packaging solutions, inaugurated the new biomass boiler at its Saica Paper site in Champblain-Laveyron (France). This installation marks a strategic milestone in the company’s industrial and environmental modernisation project.
With this biomass boiler, Saica takes a decisive step toward positioning its Champblain-Laveyron site as a European benchmark in energy efficiency and environmental performance. Following similar installations in Venizel and Nogent-sur-Seine, this is the third Saica site in France to adopt this technology.
The biomass used in the boiler consists mainly of end-of-life wood recovered locally within an average radius of less than 100 km. This choice illustrates the Group’s commitment to integrating its activity into a circular economy approach, a key pillar of Saica’s business core aimed at extending resource lifecycles and minimising environmental impact.
Supported by ADEME as part of the 2019 BCIAT (Biomass Heat Industry Agriculture and Tertiary) programme, the installation of this biomass boiler at the Champblain-Laveyron site plays a central role in the process of manufacturing paper from materials previously sent to a technical landfill site. It supplies the steam required to dry the paper.
Designed to produce renewable energy, this equipment replaces the former natural gas boiler that was originally in place, significantly reducing the site’s carbon footprint and addressing the challenges posed by fossil fuel crisis.
This installation is designed to generate renewable energy with a view to:
- Reduce fossil fuel greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 60%.
- Reduce natural gas consumption by 77%.
- Reduce the amount of paper by-products sent to landfill by 90% through recovery (zero-waste-to-landfill goal), with 83% recovered directly on site.
- Consolidate ISO 50001 certification (Energy Management).
Saica’s biomass boiler will enable the recovery of 105,000 tonnes of end-of-life wood and 50,000 tonnes of by-products from paper manufacturing each year.