Alfeld, Germany
Alfeld Mill
WORKFORCE
WORKFORCE
Highly skilled employees
INNOVATION
INNOVATION
Major investment in our new coating line for barrier papers
ENVIRONMENT
ENVIRONMENT
tons of CO₂ emissions saved each year with renewed evaporation plant
Innovation has a long tradition with us at Sappi Alfeld – one that relies on established mechanics and modern technology. Situated on the river Leine in the heart of the Leinebergland region, near Hanover, our mill produces high-quality pulp and first-class specialty papers that supply sustainable solutions for a global market. Our innovative paperboard and speciality paper products – many with important barrier properties – provide vital protection for everyday items including cosmetics, confectionery and beverages.
The town of Alfeld and the Sappi mill have developed jointly over the centuries, with our 150m chimney today the town's landmark. As the largest employer in the region, we train the skilled workers of tomorrow, offering a wide range of training and career opportunities.
Working at Alfeld Mill
Our Alfeld Mill is the largest employer in the region. As a modern, integrated paper mill it offers a wide range of employment opportunities and on-the-job training alongside strict health and safety standards.
The mill is also a frequent exhibitor at trade shows and job fairs, where it shares information about paper production, products and job opportunities.
There are currently no job opportunities available at this time.
Meet our people
What makes our employees so highly engaged and motivated?
In my job I can think out of the box, and that’s a great motivating factor for me
Kalaiyarasan Sathiaseelan
I chose Sappi Alfeld Mill because of the diversity of opportunities to further one’s education and to learn new things
Philipp Holzberger
I am most proud of what we have achieved as a team in technology. We are mastering the challenges together and supporting each other’’
Anna-Maria Attula
About Alfeld Mill
At Alfeld, we produce coated and uncoated packaging and specialty papers to high quality standards. Our integrated pulp production allows the mill to produce completely chlorine-free bleached pulp from regional wood for its own needs.
Five paper machines, an offline coating machine, a barrier coating unit as well as reel and sheet cutting machines provide real flexibility. This makes it possible to meet customer demands quickly and at short notice.
Featuring the likes of barrier properties and protective functions, our innovative solutions are in demand across the world, not least in the food and packaging industries. Our sustainable, fibre-based solutions are also increasingly replacing aluminium and plastic. So, it’s no surprise that the mill and its employees are also committed to continually reducing their impact on the environment.
Innovation in action
In 2022, a brand new, one-of-a-kind coating production line came into operation to allow Alfeld to produce state-of-the-art, renewable, fibre-based functional papers. These papers boast barrier protection to facilitate innovative, bespoke, renewable flexible packaging solutions for the food, beverage and cosmetics industries. Our highly skilled and motivated employees were essential to integrating the new line into the mill’s established processes.
More about the mill
Sappi Alfeld Mill produces coated and uncoated packaging and speciality papers, while the pulp-production facility produces chlorine-free bleached pulp for the plant’s own needs. In 2022, a unique coating line was built, allowing the production of papers with special barrier properties.
Our product range is underpinned by a consistent high-quality that has its roots in our holistic knowledge of paper production and the constant development of individual recipes. Our five papermaking machines, with widths from 3.3 to 4.8 metres, efficiently produce coated and uncoated speciality papers and SBB carton boards with grammages ranging from 17 g/m² to 500 g/m².
The plant’s most important processes at a glance:
Woodyard
The woodyard supplies our in-house pulp production with wood chips. These are produced from reforested roundwood largely sourced from the densely wooded areas surrounding the mill. The logs are debarked, chipped and then stored according to type. The mill also purchases wood chips from surrounding sawmills. In total, the mill uses some 250,000 tons of wood per year.
Pulp production
The wood chips are processed into pulp using five digesters, each with a capacity of 250 cubic metres. Around 350 tons of pulp are produced daily, and the production process runs constantly, even during holidays. The cooking process is followed by the multi-stage washing, sorting and bleaching of the pulp.
Evaporation plant
The thin liquor produced during the cooking process is chemically neutralized before being thickened in the evaporation plant. It is then ready to be used in the power plant to generate energy.
Power plant
Alfeld Mill’s power plant provides supplies energy for the entire site. Electrical energy and heating steam are generated from waste liquor, natural gas and residual materials. The waste gases produced in the energy generation process are cleaned and released into the atmosphere via the 150-metre-high chimney.
Water treatment
The plant uses some 30,000 cubic metres of water a day, sourced from the rivers Leine and Warne, as well as from the condensate created by production processes and power plant. The water is treated in the mill's own water treatment plant using freshwater filter lines. Wastewater from the individual production steps is also recycled and returned to the Leine after mechanical and biological purification. The plant has its own residual water treatment plant to ensure that the water is safe – its capacity is equivalent to that of a city with 200,000 inhabitants. Meanwhile the biogas produced in the purification process is used to generate steam in the power plant.
Paper production
Five paper machines (PM) built between 1954 and 1976 are available for paper production at Alfeld Mill. Regular rebuilds and updates ensure that they are always technologically up to date.
The board produced on PM1 is double coated on one and two sides on an offline coating line. PM2 to PM5 produce single-sided smooth papers. TPM2, PM3 and PM4 also have inline coating units and calendaring capabilities with paper surfaces suitable for the speciality papers segment.
The machines have working widths of between 3.30 and 4.80 metres and cover a basis weight range of between 18 and 500 grammes-per-square metre. In addition, some of them have integrated coating units. Papers can be further refined using an offline coating machine, as well as the new coating line. Three paper machines have an integrated calendar allowing for customer modifications of features such as gloss and smoothness.
Quality control
To ensure a consistently high product standard, laboratory tests are undertaken throughout the manufacturing process. Just like the paper production process, the laboratory works in five shifts and it carries out almost 300,000 individual measurements a year. Customer requirements with regard to various processing and converting steps can also be simulated, and each roll can be provided with a test certificate on request.
Finishing (sheet and reel)
The large rolls/tambours produced in the paper mill are cut to the required width using six slitting machines. More than 80 per cent of the production volume leaves the factory in the form of reels that are packed and labelled on a fully automatic reel-wrapping machine. For sheets, paper reels are cut to size on the five sheeters and, if required, reamed ready for the customer. The pallets then run via an automatic format packing system directly into the adjacent dispatch warehouse.
Warehouse and shipping
Storage facilities at the mill are partially automated with driverless transport systems. More than 1,000 tons of goods are shipped daily, with 80 per cent shipped by road and 20 percent using the company's own rail terminal.
Our company-wide commitment to safety is embodied in the slogan “Safety Starts With Me” – and exemplified by the fact that we achieved two million hours without a lost time injury at Alfeld Mill in 2024.
This achievement brought recognition in the form of a Platinum Award for outstanding safety performance – and was made possible only by the dedication and vigilance of all our mill employees in maintaining the mindset to avoid incidents.
We are proud of our commitment and for setting new standards in workplace safety, and will always remain vigilant and mindful that “Safety Starts With Me!”
2022
Inauguration of new coating line.
2022
New freshwater treatment plant goes into operation.
2022
A double-walled pipeline with leak monitoring for SO2 filling improves accident safety.
2021
Evaporation plant for pulp production liquors is upgraded at a cost of €11m.
Expansion of the anaerobic stage of the wastewater treatment plant and increased biogas production from wastewater.
2017
Development of innovative barrier papers begins.
2015
Production capacity increased as a result of rebuild of paper machine 2 (dryer group 5).
2013
Rebuild of paper machine 2 completes conversion of mill to 100% speciality paper.
2003
Waste liquor is used to generate renewable electricity.
1994
Rebuild of paper machine 3 is combined with an upgrade of the online coating machine.
1992
Introduction of a fully biological wastewater treatment system.
The mill is integrated into the Sappi Group.
1978
The mill shifts from oil to gas power.
1972
A new pulp mill using the up-to-date Ca-sulfite process is built.
1882
Start of pulp production at the Alfeld Mill.
1851
The first paper machine goes into operation.
1706
Approval and commissioning of the first paper mill in Alfeld.
The mixture of craftsmanship and technology is inspiring. Sappi Alfeld's huge paper machines produce innovative Packaging and Speciality Papers. Our overall success is due to good teamwork and fresh inspiration from our apprentices. You will become an industrial mechanic, electronics technician or paper technologist with us. Our complex plant and our global network provide jobs with prospects.
As the largest employer in the area, Alfeld Mill plays an important role in the local community, supporting kindergartens, schools and charitable institutions with paper donations and other social contributions.
Outreach to schoolchildren, trainees and students provides them with the opportunity to learn about jobs and career paths at the mill.
Caring for the environment
In line with Sappi’s ambitious sustainability goals, Alfeld Mill runs several initiatives designed to look after its immediate environment and promote a thriving world.
Certifications for Alfeld Mill
Our certifications ensure that our performance is monitored and that our operations comply with global best practice across a range of environmental, safety and quality topics.
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