Pulp

Pulp Division

 

Pan Pac has been producing pulp at the Whirinaki site for over 45 years.

We have a wealth of knowledge and depth of experience across all facets of our integrated supply chain.   
  
In our Pulpmill, we use the thermo mechanical pulping process to provide targeted pulp properties for manufacturing  board grade products. This process produces a high yield of pulp and is particularly suited to the New Zealand radiata pine soft wood resource.

In 2012 Pan Pac added a state of the art screening and bleaching plant, and began producing Bleached Chemi Thermo Mechanical (BCTMP) grades of pulp. BCTMP is the preferred furnish for a wide range of board, towelling and paper products.  The large and bulky fibres of Radiata Pine offer pulp properties that optimise the quality of the finished product in a competitive manner.

"Our Pulpmill produces up to 850 tonnes of quality BCTMP pulp daily."

Energy

 

Energy efficiency is important to us

The pulp making process is energy intensive. This makes efficiently managing energy a critical part of our business.

How do we do this?
Thermal energy is generated from two biofuel boilers. It is used for both pulp and lumber drying.
 

Our biofuel boilers can generate the energy to cover up to 12% of our electricity needs.

Most of the thermal energy consumed is generated from burning waste in boilers to produce steam.  The waste includes bark, sawdust, shavings, chip fines and effluent sludge.  The full utilisation of the Company’s waste products minimises the need to landfill.  The balance of thermal energy is made up with natural gas.  The energy from the boilers is all generated from biofuel - it is neutral in CO₂ Kyoto emissions. Also it contributes to nearly 40% of Pan Pac’s total energy usage.

We reuse our water

 

Our water is sourced from the Esk River and it's used many times within the mill before being disposed of.

Before discharging out waste water we put it through the dissolved air flotation process. After that, it goes through a two stage biological treatment process. So when it leaves us we make sure that we remove as much of the suspended solids, resinous material, and biologically degradable material as we can.

"We make sure we dispose of our waste water properly."

Fibre Supply

Our Fibre Supply Group coordinates the delivery of the wood resource for pulp export. Fibre supply includes whole log chipping, chipped residuals from Pan Pac’s Sawmill and purchased wood chips from other regional sawmills.
 

Our Chipmill manufactures up to 450,000 tonnes of wood chip a year from whole logs.

These chips are blended with others to minimise the variation in pulp quality.

Quality is as important to us as it is to you
We pay special attention to our Critical Control Elements to ensure quality and consistency. These include minimising chip age, blending the various supplies and screening to remove oversized chips and fines.

We do not waste resources at Pan Pac
Bark and fines generated by the Chipmill are utilised for boiler fuel.

Products Specifications

We have made a list of specifications for our products

Testing Specifications

We take testing seriously

 

During production, all of our pulp is tested on composite pulp samples. Our testing is undertaken to appropriate TAPPI or ISO standards.