COMPETENCE IN PAPER

Newsletter

April 2025

From the board

ZELLCHEMING-Expo 2025: Two good reasons to celebrate and a congress that has its finger on the pulse!

In 2025, ZELLCHEMING - the Association of Pulp and Paper Chemists and Engineers - looks back on 120 years of association history. At the same time the ZELLCHEMING-Expo celebrates its 75th anniversary. The two anniversaries have been combined - to celebrate 195 years in style!

We are pleased that we have succeeded in involving our technical committees much more actively in our event. Some of them will hold a session at the RheinMain CongressCenter (RMCC), and eight of them will even be involved in a premiere: The session "Sustainability in Focus - ZELLCHEMING Insights" on the second day of the technical congress will exclusively deal with topics from the technical committees. This is in line with our goal of increasing the visibility of the association's work in the technical committees and thus arousing interest in active participation. At the same time, we have been able to place greater emphasis on the topic of sustainability, which was incorporated into the association's mission statement this year.

The 195th anniversary celebrations will be crowned by the ZELLCHEMING Celebration Gala on the evening of the second day of the fair. The motto: "Shaping the future together! The Terrace Hall of the RMCC will be the elegant setting for this unique event, which will pay tribute to the vitality, creativity and openness to the world of the association, its members and this unique industry: Leading personalities will lead through the evening, highlighting the milestones in the association's development with a personal touch - and at the end, we look forward to young paper engineers presenting a cross-generational idea for the association's path in the coming years, together with the new chairman!

We are already working hard on the implementation. More details will follow in the next newsletter after Easter.

My ZELLCHEMING Moment

We would like to take this opportunity to call upon all members to participate in the "My ZELLCHEMING moment" campaign. We ask you to send us short videos, the content of which can be freely chosen. It can be a personal experience, the description of a milestone for the society, or simply an experience in a role such as chairing a technical committee - or even a wish or expectation for the society and its members.

The length can vary from 30 seconds to 3 minutes. The format should be as simple as possible, such as YouTube shorts or Instagram reels, or simply a cell phone video (preferably vertically oriented, with a 16:9 aspect ratio and a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels). Of course, we also welcome professional shots. Please email your video to tobias.hoenig@hoenig-messemanagement.com. If the file size is too large to send by email (max. 10 MB), please use services such as WeTransfer (free, no registration required).

Here is a great post by Sigrid Tertinegg and her collegue Christian Makari, GAW technologies, for inspiration.

We are already looking forward to the recordings and are sure that the entries will be an important enrichment for the event!

And last but not least: Tickets for the ZELLCHEMING Celebration Gala are now available at the Ticketshop. Please order your tickets for this special event as soon as possible, as they are limited!

From the office

The North Exhibition Hall at the Rhein-Main Congress Center (RMCC) in Wiesbaden is expected to be full again this year. Since January, bookings for exhibition space have exceeded last year's level. By mid-March, 90 exhibitors had already confirmed their participation. The potential remains high. We are also expecting an increase in the number of visitors because, for example, the association is paying for the Expo ticket for its members in this anniversary year, i.e. they can enjoy the trade fair and congress free of charge!

The program has already been finalized and the congress will start with a topic at the pulse of time: "Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Pulp and Paper Industry - Future Opportunities and Challenges!" Frank Meltzer, Director Technical Sales & Marketing, Mercer Pulp Sales and Vice Chairman of the ZELLCHEMING Association (his election as the new Chairman is scheduled for July 2), will moderate the panel together with Prof. Dr. Helga Zollner-Croll, Professor for Biogenic Fibers, Vice Dean of the Munich University of Applied Sciences, who has headed the ZELLCHEMING Association for almost two years.

Representatives of the European Commission and the IPAI (Platform for Applied Artificial Intelligence in Europe, based in Heilbronn) are expected to take the stage. Maximilian Heindl (CEO Progroup), Dr. Jörg Padberg (Manager Digital Transformation Koehler Innovative Solutions) and Dr. Arne Klaska (Head of Group Digital Operations Wepa) have confirmed their participation as representatives of the paper industry. After Dr. Stephan Lock, Head of the Regional Representation for North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and Saarland of the European Commission, has outlined the political framework in his keynote speech, they will explain their individual company strategies for dealing with AI in individual presentations. Tim Roder, Head of Business Development at IPAI, will highlight the role that innovation systems can play in making SMEs fit for the future. This sets the stage for an interesting exchange.

In the afternoon, Modellfabrik Papier will give a presentation: Managing Director Peter Bekaert and Networking Manager Dr. Dominic Laaf will report on the status and transfer of innovation, followed by Steffen Flaischlen, Group Manager FOMOP, who will give an insight into the research work. The first Expo day will end with a networking evening and exhibitor parties in the exhibition hall.

Women4Paper: The Encouragers

July 2 will start with the ZELLCHEMING General Assembly. From 12.15 p.m. the stage belongs to Women4Paper! Vera Strauch will give the Women4Paper Keynote 2025. She has worked in the construction industry for more than 10 years, and less than 30 years ago became the managing director of a medium-sized construction supplier. In 2018, Strauch founded her own company: the Female Leadership Academy, which rethinks professional development in a new and more digital way and puts feminist leadership into practice. The title of her presentation, developed with the network's representatives, is: "Own Your Voice: Leadership Tools for Setting Boundaries with Clarity and Empathy".

Vera Strauch

Looking to the future

The third day of the Expo will be dedicated to the ZELLCHEMING Career Day: The program will start with the presentation of the ZELLCHEMING Young Talent Award 2025. The award winners will present their careers and interesting tasks in paper production in short keynote speeches. Insights into the world of research into the production of pulp and paper-based products will be provided by the Science Flash, in which young scientists will present their exciting projects. A key component of the Career Day is the involvement of the many young industry professionals expected to attend. Using the World Café method, which allows for a creative exchange in a group format, their wishes and needs will be identified at eye level and compiled directly.

This year more than ever, it's worth coming to the ZELLCHEMING-Expo. No one should miss this very special anniversary event!

The program is available online at the following link: https://events.talque.com/Zellcheming-2025/en/YQMSAF0dy5Qnn9V5Fikx

Tickets for the Expo are available in the ticket store: https://pretix.eu/zellcheming/expo2025/

From the association

We are happy to welcome new members again this month!

We welcome to the ZELLCHEMING association:

• Lucile Delaunay-Driquert, Weidmann Electrical Technology AG (CH)
• Matti Häkkinen, Trimble Forestry Europe Oy (FIN)
• Dr. Eric Häntzsche, PTS – Institut für Fasern & Papier gGmbH
• Thomas Knese, UPM Nordland Papier GmbH
• Ferdinand Koster, Sappi Alfeld GmbH
• Kai Matolepszy, Kemira Chemicals Germany GmbH
• Teemu Möykkylä, Trimble Forestry Europe Oy (FIN)
• Frank Swatzina, Kemira Chemicals Germany GmbH

Good reasons to join ZELLCHEMING

Christian Loidl, TeLo GmbH

• What role does the pulp, paper and fiber industry play for you/your company?

  For almost 30 years, we at TeLo have been working internationally across all industries in the field of machine, plant and process safety. Since the beginning, one of our main sectors has been the pulp and paper industry with many well-known representatives.

• What made you become a member of ZELLCHEMING?

  The opportunity to network and be a part of this innovative industry.

• In what way would you like to get involved in ZELLCHEMING?
  We are interested in being a part of the vibrant exchange of ideas in the field of occupational and process safety.

Dates

• 10 April 2025
  Meeting Technical Committee Plant Engineering and Energy (ENEN)
• 23 April 2025
  Meeting Technical Committee Finishing of Paper and Paperboard (FPPB)
• 20 May 2025
  Meeting Technical Committee Environmental Issues (ENVI)
• 2 July 2025
  Meeting Technical Committee Microbiology (MBIO)
• 3 July 2025
  Meeting Technical Committee Paperboard Technology (PBTC)
• 13 November 2025
  Paperboard Technology Data Management (DATA)

From the network

APV Paper Conference 2025

The theme of the APV Paper Conference 2025 is "Artificial Intelligence - Increasing Sustainability and Efficiency in the Paper Industry" and will be held at the Gernsbach Paper Center from May 8 to 9, 2025.

The event will start with an evening get-together on May 8, 2025, with refreshments provided by the Flammaurant food truck. This is a great opportunity to exchange ideas and make new contacts in a relaxed atmosphere.

On May 9, you can look forward to exciting presentations from industry experts on how artificial intelligence can help increase both sustainability and efficiency in the paper industry. In addition to other technical presentations, we will welcome experts from renowned companies such as Steinbeis Papier GmbH, Drees & Sommer SE and the Institute of Textile Technology at RWTH Aachen University. Prof. Dr. Markus Wildberger from the DHBW Karlsruhe will lead through the day and act as moderator. The event will conclude with a barbecue where you will have the opportunity to end the day in a relaxed atmosphere.

The conference fee for attending the conference is €70. Accommodation is optional and also costs €70.

There is a special highlight for students: On Thursday, May 8, 2025, students will have the opportunity to participate in an exclusive tour of the Glatfelter paper mill at 14:00. There is no conference fee and thanks to the support of the LENA Foundation, students can also benefit from a greatly reduced accommodation rate of only €35 per night (including breakfast).

Registration is now open. Please visit the following link: https://apv-ka.de/?page_id=1506

Paper & Biorefinery: Conference and Exhibition June 4-5 in Graz, Austria

The theme of the June 4-5 conference is "FIBER - ENERGY - WATER: Closing the loops for a better tomorrow". Against the backdrop of scarce resources and environmental responsibility, a special focus will be on the circular economy, which is seen as the key to competitiveness and climate neutrality. As part of the PBC, the Women4PaperIndustry network will meet again to promote today's female papermakers and recognize their outstanding achievements.

The conference will feature a wide range of topics and will be complemented by an interesting exhibition. Enjoyable evening events provide the perfect setting for making new contacts and renewing existing ones.

More Information: https://paper-biorefinery.com/de/

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