Paper & Board

Imerys is a world leader in the minerals business with the widest portfolio of minerals available to pulp, paper and board producers.  The selective mining and beneficiation processes used to purify minerals and engineer them for specific industrial applications are state of the art.  Additionally, we have the technical expertise to support the implementation of our multi-mineral platform across the range of our customer’s grades and applications.

At Imerys, innovation, combined with customer collaboration, allows us to develop mineral based solutions for new end applications within the pulp, paper and fiber-packaging industry.

Our Science and Technology experts are networked and interconnected around the world.  The Imerys Technology Center (ITC)  in Par Moor, UK is the global hub for pulp, paper and fiber-packaging research, sharing analytical capabilities with laboratory facilities in Sandersville, GA, USA and Mogi das Cruzes (São Paulo) SP, Brazil as well as our ITC in Johns Creek (Atlanta), GA, USA.

At our state-of-the-art laboratories we are able to:

• Determine the physical properties of the final pulp, paper or board
• Simulate the complete paper making process
• Mimic the coating and calendering process
• Conduct printing tests including offset, rotogravure, flexo, digital and thermal printing

We lead the way when it comes to experimental design and trial planning, based on your critical requirements for process runnability and end-use properties. 

At our state-of-the-art laboratories we are able to:

• Perform full characterization of paper pulp, including pitch and stickies tests, cationic charge titration and zeta potential measurements
• Simulate the complete paper making process using static or dynamic sheet formers
• Reproduce the calendaring process
• Simulate the rod or blade coating process
• Determine the physical properties of the final paper
• Conduct printing tests in house

We would also be glad to organize full-scale runnability trials at your own plants and mills.

We are keen to develop the scope of our paper applications still further to allow you to benefit from our natural, environmentally friendly minerals.

Please contact your regional Paper Expert to find out how we can help.

Today’s paper mills are under increasing pressure not only to keep down costs, but to reduce their water consumption by closing water circuits and restricting the amount of waste going to effluent systems. To do this, papermakers are looking for environmentally friendly additives in their processes that won’t pollute their water circuits or receiving water bodies.

Mills are also using more and more recycled fiber in their pulps which leads to problems with ‘stickies’ such as plastics, hotmelts, adhesives and inks. Wood pitch and stickies form deposits in fabrics and dryer cylinders resulting in excessive broke caused by holes in the finished paper and even web breaks.

To counter pitch and stickies problems, papermakers use a range of chemical agents, such as inorganic and organic coagulants, which tend to enrich in circulation loops causing machine instability and potential effluent pollution issues.

Imerys talc- and bentonite-based Total Deposit Control solutions, make highly effective and environmentally friendly alternatives to chemical pitch and stickies agents.

In virgin fiber pulp, Mistron^® talcs eliminate contaminants in wood fibers without resorting to chemical treatment systems.

In deinked (DIP) and recycled fiber (RCF) pulp, Mistron^® and Altonit^® trap detrimental sticky substances, enabling papermakers to optimize prime resources.

Imerys talcs:

• Are chemically inert and do not pollute receiving streams, rivers and lakes
• Help lower water consumption by reducing the need to clean equipment
• Do not harm the environment, enabling paper mills to work with closed water circuits
• Are safe to handle and store
• Remain in the paper as a cost-effective, infinitely recyclable filler.

Current moisture-vapor, oil and grease and waterproof barrier coatings such as those based on PE laminates, wax-based coatings or mineral oils pose a number of problems:

• They are environmentally unfriendly
• Mineral oils may leach into food causing potential health risks
• They make the paper or paper board difficult—if not impossible— to recycle.
• They are applied during a second process, often at a different location.
• They may need to be removed from the board before it can be recycled.

Imerys offers a range of environment-friendly minerals and bespoke barrier coating formulations which solve issues associated with current paper and board coatings technologies.

Imerys Barrier Coatings Solutions:

• Won’t harm the environment
• Make the board and paper easily recyclable
• Can be applied directly at the paper mill
• Don't need to be removed before recycling
• Reduce transport costs and lower CO₂ emissions

Contact us to find out more about how we can help you boost your sustainable development agenda.