Eco friendly energy for Progroup: Start of construction of waste to energy plant

Green Solutions Packaging Solutions

Progroup, manufacturer of containerboard and corrugated board sheets, is expanding its site in Sandersdorf-Brehna, Germany to create a zero waste site. A waste to energy plant is being built right next door to the PM3 paper factory. It will supply the factory with the process heat it requires as well as electricity.

‘Our aim is to have zero reliance on fossil fuels and be fully carbon neutral by 2045,’ explained Maximilian Heindl, CEO of Progroup. ‘The new power plant will take us a significant step closer to achieving this goal.’

The new building will thermally utilise waste materials that are produced in the paper factory and from the private and commercial recycling process in the region – and produce enough energy to cater for the needs of around 50,000 family homes. The power plant will thus provide all the steam that the site needs as well as a third of its electricity requirement. ‘This really is clean energy in the truest sense of the word,’ said Maximilian Heindl. This is because Progroup will save around 80,000 tonnes of CO2 each year. And secondly the power plant will meet the high emissions protection standards.

With this new building, the company is adding the next component of its sustainability strategy at the site. Since August 2020, the site has been home to the PM3 high tech paper factory, which is one of the most modern and efficient anywhere in the world. An integrated circulating water treatment plant reduces the amount of fresh water that is used by 80% compared to conventional plants. During the water treatment process, recovered paper impurities are biologically degraded and converted into biogas. This alone means that the factory already consumes ten per cent fewer fossil resources.

‘As a family company, we have an obligation to the generations to come. This is why with our papers and corrugated board sheets we not only manufacture eco friendly, recyclable products, but in their production – including generating energy – we employ efficient solutions that conserve resources,’ said Maximilian Heindl.

Construction work on the new waste to energy plant began this month. It is set to start operating at the end of 2025. It will be the company's second power plant. Progroup has already successfully been embracing the zero waste concept – paper machine with an affiliated power plant – at its site in Eisenhüttenstadt.