Arctic Paper: a natural
Arctic Paper has worked for many years to improve waste processes at its Munkedal mill, in an effort to preserve the natural beauty of its surroundings.
If a company has a passion for paper, and environmental care as a stated strategy, then it is most certainly possible to produce superior fine paper grades in an environmentally sustainable way – and in a way that will show the way for others.
That is the belief of Arctic Paper, one of Europe’s leading companies in the field of high quality graphical fine paper. The manufacturer invites more than 700 customers every year to its mill in Munkedal, Sweden, to demonstrate what it can do, and what it wants to achieve.
The group is a privately owned company including three mills and 16 sales offices, and sells more than 500,000 tonnes of paper per year. The Arctic Paper group specializes in the production of superior graphical fine paper and markets a wide range of fine papers under the brand names Amber, Arctic and Munken, with Munken and Amber being uncoated qualities and Arctic the coated range.
The mills are Arctic Paper Munkedals and Arctic Paper Håfreström in the west of Sweden, and also Arctic Paper Kostzryn in Poland close to the Warta and Oder rivers near the border to Germany. The head office is in Gothenburg and the UK sales company is situated in Caterham, Surrey.
The setting for Arctic Paper Munkedals could hardly sound more picturesque. It is situated at a place where monks once fished for salmon in years gone by, where the Örekil River joins the Gullmar fjord. The mill was founded here in 1871. The Örekil River and Gullmarsfjord run through one of the most beautiful natural areas on the west coast of Sweden.
The area of Munkedals is therefore a very sensitive natural area and to build a mill at this place today would simply not be possible. For the people that both work and live in this area the protection of the river and the fjord is essential. Quite simply, for everyone at Munkedals, environmental awareness is a way of life.
For decades however, no-one worried about the effect of paper production on this natural resource with its rich animal life. Eventually the water became less clear and the fish became scarce. In the 1960s it became obvious that the emissions from the production of paper were a threat to the environment in the area. This warning was the beginning of a long-term commitment to eco-friendly operations, which started decades before others, according to Arctic Paper.
Today the mill in Munkedal is one of the most environmentally friendly paper mills in the world. Due to its location, the focus has been on water consumption and emission to water, and the mill has one of the lowest discharge figures in the industry: where other mills use 10 to 16 litres per kilogram of paper, the mill in Munkedal uses less than three litres of water per kilogram of paper.
The environmental engagement in Arctic Paper has also been focused more and more in the last decade on the global effects of paper making. Forest certification has the aim of ensuring that forests are managed in a sustainable way and today Arctic Paper works mostly with FSC certification. The first Munken qualities were FSC certified as early as 2003, and since then Arctic Paper has worked further to FSC certify both coated Arctic grades and uncoated Munken papers. Today the complete range of Munken paper grades are accredited by FSC.
As mentioned previously, it is the custom for Arctic Paper to invite several hundred of its customers to the Munkedals mill every year to cast an eye over the eco-friendly measures that the paper manufacturer has taken, and to show the customers how a really environmentally friendly mill performs in full action. Guests are able to view the unique development that has been made by the mill in a specially built “Enviromental Centre”.
Here Arctic Paper shows its environmental work in the middle of its waste water ponds. The ponds are actually an integral part of a celebrated flower park, but are an important part of the cleaning process. By way of demonstrating the effectiveness of that cleaning process and as a special welcome for guests to Arctic Paper at Munkedal, the company is always delighted to serve the guests a drink of the water cleaned through the mill’s processes.
Arctic Paper and HarperCollins
HarperCollins is one of the world’s leading book publishers, producing around three million books per year – a paper usage that is in the region of six thousand tonnes on an annual basis. It has long had a strong environmental focus to its paper purchasing, culminating in a commitment in November 2005 to print all its hardback monochrome and quality paperback books on FSC paper.
This arrangement reflected a relationship with Arctic Paper that began towards the end of 2005 when HarperCollins was experiencing problems with paper availability due to mill closures and the industrial action in Finland. Arctic Paper was able to step in and not just meet the demand, but to supply FSC paper stocks produced at the Munkedal mill.
“The Munkedals mill is one of the most environmentally friendly in Europe,” says James Graves, HarperCollins’ purchasing director, “and Arctic Paper was at the forefront of introducing FSC papers, allowing HarperCollins to break new ground in the publishing industry, and fulfil our environmental commitments.”
The relationship has developed since into a mutually beneficial partnership, providing the publisher with stability of supply, adds Graves: “The reasons we selected Arctic Paper were several: its environmental credentials, quality of paper, pricing, flexibility and its desire to work to develop a partnership with HarperCollins. We will continue to build on our partnership where possible, and will look to the possibility of further development of environmental credentials and new paper options along with Arctic Paper.”
Arctic Papers’ paper
Amber Graphic: a white, uncoated fine paper which is used for books, dictionaries, manuals, advertising material, brochures and catalogues.
Amber Preprint: a high white, technically advanced, uncoated paper, developed for direct mail, invoices, letterheads and advertising material.
Munken Polar: an exclusive silky-smooth uncoated paper with a distinct and clear white shade. It is perfectly suited for high quality printed matter such as four-colour books, catalogues, magazines, corporate paper and periodicals.
Munken Lynx: an exclusive white, silky-smooth uncoated paper which is perfectly suited for high quality printed matter such as four-colour books, catalogues, magazines, corporate paper, periodicals and educational material.
Munken Pure: an exclusive, cream-shade, uncoated paper, perfectly suited for high value printed matter as books, catalogues, corporate paper, periodicals, educational materials and high-quality advertising material.
Munken Premium White/Cream: a white or cream, woodfree, uncoated paper with a natural surface that provides excellent readability. The paper is suitable for both black and white and four-colour print and is ideal for beautiful, exclusive printed material.
Munken Print White/Cream: the ultimate book paper; combines the best properties of woodfree and wood-containing paper to create a quality with a bulk, strength, surface, readability and printability that has been optimised for book productions.
Munken Print Classic: a deep cream shaded uncoated bulky paper that has now become a classic due to its outstanding character, good opacity, special surface and its genuine book paper feel.
Munken Pocket Cream: a deep cream shade; a high quality paper with good readability and opacity and just the right stiffness for a book.
Arctic the Silk: a white, fully coated paper with a silky, semi-matt surface that provides excellent reproduction of pictures and text.
Arctic the Matt: a matt, coated paper with a surprisingly soft, white surface that has a natural feel.
Arctic the Volume: a high-bulk, matt, fully coated paper, able to give high-class image reproduction but retains a natural feel. Outstanding bulk, opacity and rigidity make it ideal for high quality four-colour books, advertising material, magazines, posters and many other types of printed material.
Arctic Gloss: a high-quality gloss coated paper, providing perfect photo reproduction with good stability, gloss, opacity and bulk. It has many areas of application, including photo books, magazines and advertising material.