Benchmarking

Benchmarking of costs, process, environmental and energy performance or other efficiency indicators is becoming increasingly important in the competitive pulp and paper industry.  EKONO maintains several extensive computer databases to allow detailed and precise benchmarking:

• Environmental Performance Database, which encompasses effluent and air emission data of more than 600 pulp and paper facilities in North America, Finland, Sweden, and other western European countries. The database is updated annually using public reports from environmental government agencies, corporate environmental and annual reports and industry surveys. Performance graphs are published annually in our Multi-Client Study "Environmental Performance, Regulations and Technologies in the Pulp and Paper Industry" for 11 different pulp and paper mill categories. This benchmarking has been found to be an excellent tool and is used by several corporations to benchmark their mills within the corporation and in comparison to the whole industry.  View an example.
• Energy Use and CO₂ Emission Database enables us to benchmark e.g. the CO₂ emissions, energy costs, biomass utilization, in-house power generation and other energy indicators.  The database encompasses the same areas as the environmental database.  Recently we have developed the so-called energy-BAT indicator which can be used for performance evaluation and comparison between different entities (see illustration and recent publication).
• Mill Database encompasses a listing of the pulp and paper mills, their products, production lines, production rates as well as specifications of main production equipment.  It also includes data on process performance and key operating parameters.  The database is kept up-to-date through published information and industry contacts.  This database is a widely used tool in our market studies, feasibility studies, troubleshooting projects, etc., serving both the pulp and paper companies and the equipment suppliers.