ACTIVITY
Paper & packaging · Industrial intelligence

Regional Activity

Europe Activity

Last meaningful update:

Evidence period: –

Activity overview

Industrial operations across Europe exhibit substantial capital investments aimed at decarbonization and manufacturing capacity. In France, Saica Group brought online an 86 million euro biomass plant at its Nogent-sur-Seine mill, while Canson commissioned a 5 MW biomass boiler at Saint-Marcel-lès-Annonay, both achieving an 89 percent drop in natural gas usage. Concurrently, Lucart deployed an electrifiable Toscotec tissue machine at its Laval-sur-Vologne facility.

Converting operations and finishing capabilities are also expanding across the continent. In Poland, Masterpress installed a Karlville Swiss machine to internalize paper pouch fabrication, while Südpack added a flexographic press with dual robotics and RFID in Kłobuck. In Spain, Smurfit Westrock doubled Bag-in-Box output in Ibi through a 54 million euro project, and in the United Kingdom, Lesters allocated over 2 million pounds to expand large-format corrugated operations in Cannock.

What changed

  1. · Completed · Saica Group · Nogent-sur-Seine, France

    Saica Group starts €86 million biomass boiler at Nogent-sur-Seine

    Saica Group has activated a new €86 million biomass boiler at its Nogent-sur-Seine paper mill in France, cutting natural gas consumption by 89 percent.

  2. · Completed · Smurfit Westrock · Ibi, Spain

    Smurfit Westrock completes €54 million expansion at Ibi site

    Smurfit Westrock has completed a €54 million expansion at its Ibi facility in Spain, doubling its Bag-in-Box production capacity to meet surging European demand.

  3. · Completed · Canson · Saint-Marcel-lès-Annonay, France

    Canson commissions 5 MW biomass boiler at Saint-Marcel-lès-Annonay mill

    Specialty paper manufacturer Canson has commissioned a 5 MW biomass boiler at its Saint-Marcel-lès-Annonay mill, replacing 89% of its natural gas steam demand.

  4. · Assembly completed · Lucart / Toscotec · Laval-sur-Vologne, France

    Lucart installs Toscotec tissue line at Laval-sur-Vologne mill

    Lucart is installing a new Toscotec AHEAD 1.8 tissue line at its Laval-sur-Vologne mill, boosting site capacity to 75,000 tonnes with a fully electrifiable setup.

  5. · Started · Lesters · Cannock, United Kingdom

    Lesters invests over £2 million in Cannock corrugated plant

    UK packaging specialist Lesters is investing over £2 million in a 101,000 sq ft facility in Cannock to expand its large-format corrugated production.

  6. · Completed · Masterpress / Karlville Swiss · Poland

    Masterpress installs Karlville Swiss pouch machine in Poland

    Masterpress has installed a Karlville Swiss pouch-making machine in Poland to produce high-barrier, PFAS-free paper pouches in-house.

  7. · Completed · Südpack · Kłobuck, Poland

    Südpack upgrades Kłobuck plant with automated flexo press

    Südpack upgrades its Kłobuck plant with a highly automated flexographic press featuring dual robotics and RFID to drastically reduce job changeover times.

Companies in motion

  • Canson

    Specialty paper manufacturer Canson has commissioned a 5 MW biomass boiler at its Saint-Marcel-lès-Annonay mill, replacing 89% of its natural gas steam demand.

  • Karlville Swiss

    Masterpress has installed a Karlville Swiss pouch-making machine in Poland to produce high-barrier, PFAS-free paper pouches in-house.

  • Lesters

    UK packaging specialist Lesters is investing over £2 million in a 101,000 sq ft facility in Cannock to expand its large-format corrugated production.

  • Lucart

    Lucart is installing a new Toscotec AHEAD 1.8 tissue line at its Laval-sur-Vologne mill, boosting site capacity to 75,000 tonnes with a fully electrifiable setup.

  • Masterpress

    Masterpress has installed a Karlville Swiss pouch-making machine in Poland to produce high-barrier, PFAS-free paper pouches in-house.

  • Saica Group

    Saica Group has activated a new €86 million biomass boiler at its Nogent-sur-Seine paper mill in France, cutting natural gas consumption by 89 percent.

  • Smurfit Westrock

    Smurfit Westrock has completed a €54 million expansion at its Ibi facility in Spain, doubling its Bag-in-Box production capacity to meet surging European demand.

  • Südpack

    Südpack upgrades its Kłobuck plant with a highly automated flexographic press featuring dual robotics and RFID to drastically reduce job changeover times.

  • Toscotec

    Lucart is installing a new Toscotec AHEAD 1.8 tissue line at its Laval-sur-Vologne mill, boosting site capacity to 75,000 tonnes with a fully electrifiable setup.

Connected developments

Biomass Boiler Integration in French Paper Mills

Both Saica Group at Nogent-sur-Seine and Canson at Saint-Marcel-lès-Annonay have brought biomass boilers into service to reduce natural gas reliance by 89 percent. The available records confirm these parallel site installations and fuel percentage reductions, but do not indicate any joint sourcing contracts, mutual technology suppliers, or linked management across the two separate papermakers.

Machinery Modernization in Polish Converting Plants

Masterpress and Südpack have each deployed advanced converting machinery at their respective manufacturing operations in Poland, with Masterpress installing a pouch machine and Südpack installing a robotic flexo line in Kłobuck. While both investments modernize packaging processes within the country, the data does not establish any technical collaboration, shared substrates, or shared commercial distribution between the two companies.

Activity analysis

The documented operational evidence highlights a twin focus on thermal energy replacement and downstream converting adjustments. In French papermaking, facilities operated by Saica Group and Canson have substituted heavy natural gas consumption by installing dedicated biomass units to satisfy process steam demands. These thermal conversions run parallel to machine-level electrifications, as seen in Lucart's tissue line installation at Laval-sur-Vologne.

Simultaneously, downstream corrugated and pouch converters are adjusting their processing floors through targeted machinery deployments. In Eastern and Western European sites, companies like Masterpress, Südpack, Smurfit Westrock, and Lesters are establishing automated converting lines and regional facilities to address specific barrier pouch, flexographic, bag-in-box, and heavy-duty box formats without relying on outside conversion steps.

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Original The Paper reports