- CO2-free with green hydrogen
- Essity launches green hydrogen pilot for CO[2]-free tissue production
Essity is starting a pilot project in Mainz-Kostheim to operate a paper machine with green hydrogen without CO2. To this end, natural gas is gradually being replaced by green hydrogen while production continues.
With the project, which is the first of this size in the paper industry, Essity wants to show that energy-intensive production is also possible without CO2. The Swedish company is investing a total of four million euros.
Essity is becoming more sustainable again: The company is using green hydrogen in the manufacture of hygiene papers, so-called tissue. The pilot project, totaling four million euros, is testing the extent to which green hydrogen can replace the natural gas used in the drying process. To this end, a paper machine will be converted by autumn 2022 so that the burners in the drying unit can be operated with up to 100 percent hydrogen. One of the partners in this project is Mainzer Stadtwerke AG, which is building and operating a mobile hydrogen mixing plant on the Essity site. The state of Hesse is funding the project with funds from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
Thorsten Becherer, Essity Plant Manager, says: “We will be the first in the world to use green hydrogen in the manufacture of hygiene paper. With this we prove that we can achieve the high quality of our products with hydrogen and thus sustainably. We will be able to operate a tissue paper machine with the help of green hydrogen not only CO2-neutrally, but CO2-free ”. Christian Schüller, Essity project manager, adds: “With our plan to use green hydrogen instead of natural gas industrially for the first time, we are doing our part towards decarbonization. We thereby create a sustainable industrial process. It will set an example for many other companies in the future ”.
The cooperation partner Mainzer Stadtwerke AG has been operating the Mainz energy park since 2015, in which, among other things, environmentally friendly hydrogen is produced using wind energy. “We have in-depth experience in the field of hydrogen and are happy to contribute to this groundbreaking project as a cooperation partner,” says Michael Worch, Managing Director of Mainzer Netze GmbH, a subsidiary of Stadtwerke Mainz AG.
The Essity plant in Mainz-Kostheim
The Essity plant in Mainz-Kostheim has consistently focused on sustainability and recycling for many years: The Kostheim plant processes waste paper into high-quality Tork brand hygiene papers and has developed the Tork-Paper-Circle®, the world’s first recycling service for paper towels. A total of 140,000 tons of paper are produced and sold by 540 employees in the Essity plant in Mainz-Kostheim.
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