Ence’s biofactory in Navia has registered an increase in its sustainable pulp production of 24% between the second quarter of last year and the same period of 2020. This notable improvement in efficiency and competitiveness is due to the effort of the human team of all the plant to start up and optimize the latest investment of more than 113 million euros made in the facilities, which was implemented last year, and which affected practically all the processes of the plant.
The good results of the Navia biofactory, together with the improvement of Ence’s pulp plant in Pontevedra, allowed the company to increase pulp production in the first half of the year compared to the first half of the previous year. In addition, these joint efforts have contributed to a reduction of almost 5% in the production cost of each ton of cellulose, improving the competitiveness of Ence’s biofactories and its positioning in the European market, to which 94% of its cellulose.
The operational data of the Navia plant stands out even more considering the context and the extraordinary situation caused by the global health crisis. Restrictions on the movement of people to minimize contagion affected the development of various equipment, due to the impossibility of having expert professionals from other countries. In this way, it was Ence’s human team that made this successful start possible after the significant investment of more than 130 million from the “Navia 80” project.
In addition, this remarkable improvement that Ence Navia has led during the health crisis has been developed in strict security measures applied by the company to minimize the risk of contagion of coronavirus, contained in the different protocols established since February. Thus, the maintenance of employment and economic activity has been achieved while guaranteeing the safety and health of all people who belong to the Ence family.
And all this, sustaining and increasing the employment generated in the Navia plant, also allowing the continuity of the activity in other directly related sectors, such as forestry and logistics.
Finally, the plant continues to advance in its environmental behavior, within its commitment to continuous improvement towards excellence in this area. Nationally and internationally recognized environmental behavior through ISO 14001 environmental certification, voluntary adherence to the European Eco-management and Eco-Audit System (EMAS) and the Nordic Swan eco-label, the official eco-seal of the Scandinavian governments. Furthermore, since this month of July, the shipping plant has received the “Zero Waste” environmental certificate from AENOR for its efficient management and recovery of by-products.
