State Minister for Economic Affairs Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jörg Steinbach visits Progroup’s site in Eisenhüttenstadt

During his trip to Eisenhüttenstadt, Steinbach visited both the state-of-the-art paper factory and the adjacent waste-to-energy plant. He was particularly impressed to see how Progroup has used market-leading technologies to implement an overall concept that conserves a very large amount of resources. Minister for Economic Affairs Jörg Steinbach: “For the last ten years, Progroup as a company has established itself at the site in Eisenhüttenstadt and shown itself to be a pioneer for energy-efficient industrial production that reduces emissions and conserves raw materials. The principle of continuously investing in innovative technologies that are implemented consistently in the production process has worked well here and clearly demonstrates that using recycled materials and resources doesn’t impede constant growth. On the contrary. I’m delighted that Progroup has been committed to resource-conserving production right from day one and shares my vision of an efficient, sustainable circular economy. The transformation process is sure to succeed with companies like Progroup.”

“Professor Dr. Steinbach’s experience and expertise as a process engineer is impressive. His specific questions and the in-depth discussion we had gave us valuable tips and suggestions on how the company can continue to evolve at the Eisenhüttenstadt site,” said Beate Flamm, Board member of Progroup AG, following the visit.

Highly sustainable: “Next-Fibre” products
Progroup manufactures containerboard at the Eisenhüttenstadt site with its state-of-the-art facilities – around 650,000 tonnes a year. The containerboard is made from highly sustainable papers that Progroup has developed and markets as “Next-Fibre” products. They are produced exclusively using recovered paper without any fresh fibre being added, are much lighter compared to customary papers in the market and yet are extremely high-performing – a material advantage that is evident not just during transport and saves CO₂. Once the products have been used, they can be fully recycled as recovered paper.

Independent energy supply thanks to own waste-to-energy power plant
The energy required for papermaking is supplied from the waste-to-energy power plant next door. It utilises what are known as rejects – waste materials from paper production and from industry – and then supplies the PM2 paper machine with all the hot steam it needs. The power plant also produces electricity. The amount of electricity produced is equivalent to roughly 50 per cent of the power that PM2 requires. This allows Progroup to reduce the use of fossil fuels and save a lot of CO₂.

Progroup has operated its PM2 paper factory in Eisenhüttenstadt since 2010. The power plant was commissioned one year later. Both projects have resulted in investments of 750 million euros. Progroup has also created around 200 state-of-the-art jobs at the site.