A paper mill runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and up to 365 days a year. Paper moves at breakneck speed (up to 120 km/h) through the inside of machines that can be up to 350 metres long and more than 10 metres wide. The processes are computer-controlled and the quality of the product obtained is constantly checked at the machine’s operational speed. A paper mill has thousands of kilometres of cables, hundreds of kilometres of pipes and hundreds of valves, motors, compressors, pumps…
And there is more, because paper is not only paper mills but a large industrial field, based on the sustainable paper cycle. We can include industries as diverse as the forestry industry, waste paper recyclers, pulp and paper manufacturers, paper processors, manufacturers of cardboard boxes, sacks and bags, manufacturers that produce spindles, envelopes, notebooks and folders, publishing companies, printers of books, brochures, labels, magazines, newspapers, engineering companies, manufacturers of equipment and capital goods specific to our industry, training centres …
In the Basque Country alone, more than 1,600 companies and 12,000 direct jobs contribute to the ongoing development and application of paper technologies. This not only improves productivity but also produces, with the utmost respect for the environment, surprising products that respond to a multitude of needs. Just think, more than 30% of the paper we use today responds to uses and functions that did not even exist 10 years ago.
Apart from the investments that all this entails, more than 600 million euros in the last 10 years, 93% of pulp and paper manufacturers work under ISO 9001 certified management systems to ensure the quality of their products.