Export | SCA Hygiene Australasia
The use of geothermal steam in the papermaking process has reduced the Kawerau site’s carbon dioxide emissions by 39 percent.
Hercules Chemicals Australia is proud to be associated with SCA Hygiene Australasia.
Pioneering use for geothermal steam Some of New Zealand’s best-known hygiene products are being made more efficiently with the help of easily accessible and renewable geothermal energy. SCA Hygiene Australasia’s tissue production plant in Kawerau is pioneering the use of geothermal steam in its papermaking processes, resulting in substantial reductions in its carbon emissions.
Within Australasia 1400 people are employed with SCA HA across New Zealand, Fiji and Australia.
mill. If you’ve ever been to this region you’ll be familiar with the strange sight of steam rising from the ground.
The company has a number of facilities in New Zealand including factories in Te Rapa (Hamilton) and Kawerau. It is at the Kawerau tissue production plant that brands like Purex, Deeko, Handee and Tork are manufactured, with the site producing some 60,000 tonnes of tissue product annually.
Legend has it that the local thermal heat was sent by the sisters of Ngatoro-i-rangi the priest (Tohunga), who was freezing to death while climbing Mount Tongariro to claim the land.
Kawerau initiatives
In recent years, SCA has also done much to protect and nurture the natural environment around the Tarawera River. It’s all part of a commitment to sustainability which has delivered real benefits and seen the company recognised for its leadership in this area.
SCA HA’s tissue production plant is located on the banks of the Tarawera River in Kawerau, approximately 55 kilometres from Rotorua. As such, the team at SCA HA is very aware of the significance of the local area and the need to protect and nurture the natural environment.
SCA Hygiene Australasia (SCA HA) is a leading hygiene products company, manufacturing and marketing a number of well-known brands including Purex toilet tissue, Handee kitchen towel, Deeko napkins, Treasures nappies and Tork commercial washroom and wiping hygiene products.
In recent years SCA Kawerau has initiated a number of sustainability initiatives which have not only enhanced the natural environment, but also helped reduce the environmental impact of its tissue manufacturing.
The company is part of the global SCA Group which has headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden.
Harnessing nature’s energy New Zealand’s North Island volcanic zone contains several areas of thermal activity, one of which is located near SCA HA’s Kawerau
The “fire” erupted first at White Island, then at Rotorua and Taupo and finally at the volcano of Tongariro to save the Tohunga’s life. Tuwharetoa was Ngatoro-i-rangi’s descendant, and the local tribe of today descends from Tuwharetoa. For many years, SCA HA Kawerau operations manager Murray Lucas was interested in the prospect of using geothermal steam in SCA HA’s papermaking process. To make it a reality, SCA HA formed a commercial arrangement with Ngati Tuwharetoa Geothermal Assets limited (NTGA) which is an iwi company managing the local Kawerau geothermal field on behalf of the Ngati Tuwharetoa (BOP) Settlement Trust. The team at SCA HA worked closely with iwi to ensure that the company’s use of geothermal steam was acceptable to them and managed in a respectful and sustainable way. The partnership has been very successful and in 2009 an agreement was finalised, enabling SCA to start using steam directly from the geothermal field from August 2010.
Changes to three machines Hercules Chemicals Australia 1612-1638 Centre Rd, Springvale, 3171, Victoria, Australia Ph: +61 3 9550 5653 Fax: +61 3 9547 5179; www.nuplex.co.nz
37 branches under J A Russell’s covering Taupo to the North, Stewarts Electrical & Data Suppliers covering the lower north Island and Radcliffe Electrical covering the whole of the South Island.
16 | August/September 2011 www.centraltoday.co.nz
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SCA HA’s Kawerau plant has three paper machines which have previously relied on natural gas (a non-renewable fossil fuel) as energy to run gas-fired boilers. Since August 2010, all three of the machines have been running entirely on natural heat from the earth, a clean and renewable form of energy.