Article

Cargill Receives FEFCO Energy Savings Award

At the FEFCO Technical Seminar last month in Berlin, Cargill, Mechelen, Belgium, received the spotlight presentation award in the Energy Savings category for its C*RheM™. C*RheM is a new adhesive rheology modifier based on renewable materials for the corrugating industry. C*RheM has been designed to help the corrugated industry reduce starch consumption and energy use while improving board quality and printability. C*RheM provides adhesive flow and film split characteristics to promote superior runnability and board performance.

Because C*RheM improves the rheology of corrugating glues, it reduces the glue add-on, and therefore the water add-on, during the manufacturing process. As a consequence of this the energy need to evaporate the water is lower resulting in energy savings and the production of a flatter and stronger board.

Walter De Smedt, chairman of FEFCO’s Production Committee, the energy saving award went to Cargill because the C*RheM adhesive conditioner fully supports a ‘cold corrugating process’ that results in a lower process temperature since much less water has to be evaporated.

"On top of that, this adhesive that is based on renewable materials, may result in big raw material gains due to e.g. less corrugated waste and starch consumption," De Smedt says. "Therefore it is contributing to a direct and indirect energy saving efficiency throughout the complete corrugated manufacturing chain."

"We are glad to see FEFCO recognizing Cargill’s efforts to support the corrugating industry by developing environmental friendly products and helping corrugators to reduce their costs," says Jaume Vidal, Cargill European paper and corrugating segment manager.

C*RheM™ provides savings from:

• Reduced starch consumption
• Increased productivity due to improved runnability
• Reduced energy use due to lower drying requirements
• Improved flatness (less warp) for better printing and converting.
• Decreased paper basis weight while maintaining box strength
• Reduced corrugated waste