PBA proudly features two productive sites, over 300 employees, and three continuous machines, which differ in mechanics and design. These allow our group to approach different markets and ship our cardboard to more than 80 countries all over the world. The main uses for our paperboard are: paper for the production of spiral and in-line tubes, edge protectors, envelopes, laminated paper, layer pads, Tissue cores, paper for corrugates, and honeycomb panels. Our group’s strength is the study and implementation of unique systems: Cartiera dell’Adda features one of the largest trim widths (4400mm) for grey cardboard in all of Europe, with a production rate of one train per hour. ICP has two systems that can produce grey paperboard, but also white/white and white/grey, which is particularly appreciated for cores in the Tissue sector.

We put a significant amount of care into the technical specifics of our cardboard, notably: we can provide cardboard with a minimum weight of 140 g/m² and a maximum of 990 g/m², considering the three systems. Consequently, our paperboard’s thickness can start at 210 microns and reach up to 1500 microns.

We create dedicated products to meet all of our clients’ needs by altering certain characteristics.

Thanks to the end-of-machine rewinders, one of which was built by our group’s company Tecno Paper, and thanks to our external cutting centre, we can cut reels up to a minimum of 45mm, and create layer pads in sizes between 400x400mm and 1600x1600mm.

Another basic aspect that our group greatly focuses on is the Research and Development sector, with special attention on sustainability – we only use paper from domestic and industrial waste, with a pre and post-consumer ratio of over 4:1. In 2023, the group used about 300’000 tons of pulp for the production of our paperboard. But PBA’s “green” side doesn’t only come from raw materials – Cartiera dell’Adda features a biomass cogeneration plant which uses wood chips from public and domestic cleaning of forests and green spaces to produce energy and gas for paper production. Furthermore, Cartiera dell’Adda features an aerobic and anaerobic wastewater treatment plant, which allows us to obtain biogas for our productive site. The adjustments to the dryers and calenders of the ICP plant allowed for an increase in hourly production, and an increase in paper quality.
All of the productive procedures are improved to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions, as well as using less clear water than the average – almost the entirety of the water we use is re-introduced into the productive cycle, thus reducing our environmental impact. The group also boasts various certifications, among the most important are: 100%FSC, ISO9001, ISO 14001, and ISO45001.

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Bench inaugurated in memory of Pino Cima, Founder of Cartiera dell’Adda
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Master's Degree Programme “Technology and production of paper and cardboard”
PBA supports the Master’s Degree Programme “Technology and production of paper and cardboard”
A paper mill’s heart is the continuous machine. “A monster of technology and speed that feeds on dirty water and produces rolls of paper.” This is how an inexperienced visitor would describe the machine. By only using words to describe the machine, we cannot add the noise that is part of the magic, and which heightens its importance. The continuous machine has been used in paper mills since 1800. It was built in Holland, and then evolved throughout the years to become more and more powerful. It’s called continuous because usually it’s a really grand system which works non-stop. It treats paper paste until it becomes real paper, making it an essential machine for any paper mill and any kind of paper. Cartiera dell’Adda holds at the heart of its plant a continuous machine that the company defines a gem. The machine is exemplary in the production of grey cardboard. The machine is 100m long, and it’s the first in Italy in terms of width in the production of the paperboard roll. It was built by the company Carcano di Maslianico who was forced to transform their space to meet Pino Cima’s technical requests, the founder of Calolzio Corte. The year is 1956, the Cima family looks to the future and designs a new performing plant. The result of these investments is a highly technologically advanced company. Pino Cima’s intuitions on using recycled paper as a raw material were ahead of his time, as well as the idea of recovering heat for the production of electric energy. The machine contains all the work segments which are distinctive of paper or cardboard: the Headbox where the paper paste is inserted, the Wire section where excess water is removed to form the sheet of paper, which is then pressed in the Press, dried in the Dryer, smoothed and shined in the Calendar section, and finally rolled up thanks to the Reel. During this operation the characteristics of the product are defined, like weight, candling, thickness… Every kind of paper requires a different machine with different specifics. This is why in Cartiera dell’Adda, the continuous machine was designed and started in tight collaboration with the designer and the entrepreneur who commissioned it, producing only carboard and recycled paperboard. Today, Cartiera dell’Adda’s continuous machine has undergone many transformations and improvements in the last 68 years of activity, always keeping up with modern times, and featuring a very sophisticated technological part which is licensed – the section where the sheet is formed. The carboard sheets can be a few kilometers long, and the working speed can break 30km/h. At the moment, Cartiera dell’Adda’s machine can produce more than 25 tons of paperboard every hour.
A paper mill’s heart is the continuous machine.
PBA products
PBA’s products. The future’s keywords? Customize and diversify.