Crane Invests in Sustainability

Crane Currency has inaugurated a new filtration system that will reduce water consumption by as much as 500,000 cubic meters per year and remove more cotton fibres for reuse in paper production at its paper mill in Tumba, Sweden.

The mill is located near two lakes in the Botkyrka municipality, approximately 20 km from Stockholm. The mill has long had well-developed processes for water purification and drying of paper. All wastewater from the plant is sent to a local treatment plant where the cotton fibres lost to papermaking are separated from the wastewater to end up either as fuel for biogas or as soil fertiliser.

As well as enabling Crane to significantly reduce its water consumption, the new 42 tonne filtration system’s capture of fibres will separate about 108 tonnes per year. The captured fibres can then be returned directly to the papermaking process.

At the same time, Crane has invested in a new cotton bale separator. The cotton used in the production of banknote paper comes in highly compressed bales weighing several hundred kilos each. The bale separator opens and aerates the cotton before bleaching and refining, allowing better control of those processes and turning more cotton fibre into production-ready pulp.

According to Crane, the new separation process results in an increase of nearly three times in its internal cotton pulp production, enabling the company to drastically reduce the purchase of processed pulp, leading to better material usage and control.

Separately, Crane Currency has invested €1 million in a large-scale solar farm at its banknote printing plant in Hal Far, Malta.

Located on the roof of the facility, the solar farm panels cover 6,500m2 and will generate about 1,500,000 kWh annually, the equivalent of powering 378 Maltese households. They will also ensure that approximately 690 tonnes of CO2 will not be added to the atmosphere each year.

What sets the solar farm apart, says Crane, is its scale and that it is first such installation in Malta to feature a semi-autonomous cleaning system. This will allow the 1,710 panels to achieve maximum energy efficiency and produce at its highest possible yields throughout the lifetime of the system.