ANDRITZ to supply fiberboard recycling line to Sonae Arauco in Portugal

International technology group ANDRITZ has received an order to supply a dry fiberboard recycling line to Sonae Arauco’s mill in Mangualde/Portugal. Start-up of the fiberboard recycling line is scheduled for the second quarter of 2025.

Sonae Arauco’s mill in Mangualde/Portugal, will be the first one worldwide to have a fiberboard recycling line
© Andritz

The line will recycle end-of-life fiberboards back into valuable fibers as new raw material for fiberboard production. It will be the first industrial-scale fiberboard recycling line in the world. Paulo Pinto De Sousa, Director at Sonae Arauco, says: “Recycling fiberboards is an important step towards a circular economy. It reduces the consumption of natural resources and energy. We know ANDRITZ as a strong supplier of solutions for the fiberboard industry and are convinced that they are the right partner for our innovative fiberboard recycling project.”

The dry fiberboard recycling line is based on continuous steam treatment with a special discharging system using the ANDRITZ Steam-Ex discharger, which minimizes steam consumption and maintenance requirements. This allows continuous processing of fiberboard material with very low steam consumption and high runnability. Michael Frint, Technology Director at ANDRITZ, adds: “By combining our proven pressurized refining systems with ANDRITZ Steam-Ex, our pretreatment process based on steam explosion, we have developed an efficient solution for fiberboard recycling. We are proud that Sonae Arauco placed their trust in us to build world’s first industrial-scale fiberboard recycling line.”