Excess heat from our production process warms our own facilities, local buildings — and even the public swimming pool in Eerbeek — reducing gas use and supporting the local community.
Producing paper generates a lot of warm water and air. Historically, that heat was often seen as a by-product. At Coldenhove, we started looking at it as a resource that could be reused.
First steps are small
Our first heat recovery projects focused on our own site. Warm water from production at around 70°C was used to heat factory buildings and offices during the winter months. That was the starting point for thinking bigger.
A swimming pool in the forest
In the early 1980s, the local community in Eerbeek was planning the renovation of the public swimming pool, located in the forests near the mill. Coldenhove offered more than just support: we offered residual heat from our production process.
The concept was simple but technically demanding:
Use thermal exchangers to transfer heat from our process water
Pump it through a pipeline over 600 meters to the swimming pool
Keep the pools at around 24°C
Reduce the need for the pool’s own gas-fired boilers
Early on, plans focused only on the children’s and play pools. With further engineering, the system was optimised so that all pools – including the larger recreational and competition pools – could benefit. The temperature drop along the pipeline was kept to around one degree.
“It’s a nice example of how an industrial site and a local facility can help each other. Our excess heat makes the pool more sustainable, and the project connects us even more with the community”
Herre Achterkamp Sales Manager
Heat recovery as a standard
The swimming pool project was a starting point, not an exception.
Over time, heat recovery has become a standard part of how we manage energy. Office buildings and facilities on site are heated using recovered process heat where possible.
We have developed projects that recover heat in production lines and reuse it in earlier steps in the process. The underlying principle is always the same: use the energy that is already there before using new energy from outside.
Our solar installation powers our fully electric company cars, forklifts and reach trucks, helping us electrify mobility across the site and cut local emissions. These steps form an important part of our broader shift toward sustainable energy use at Coldenhove.
By redesigning our mini-jumbo rolls from 40 cm to 38 cm, we fit up to 30% more paper on every pallet. This single change significantly reduces transport emissions per delivered tonne — and helps customers lower their footprint too.
Surrounding our mill, Coldenhove maintains 35 hectares of Natura2000 protected forest in close cooperation with local authorities and nature-management experts. This forest is never used for fiber sourcing. All pulp for our papers comes from FSC® certified production forests, so we protect nature locally while sourcing responsibly.
We reuse 95% of all process water. Through advanced purification and smart recirculation, the same water travels through our mill again and again, drastically reducing the need for fresh water. The remaining 5% is treated at our water treatment facility IWE, where it is thoroughly cleaned before being safely returned to nature.
All our papers are made from FSC®-certified virgin fibres, sourced only from responsibly managed production forests. This supports sustainable forestry practices and ensures long-term availability of high-quality fibre for future generations.
With detailed monitoring of every machine, smarter heat recovery and more efficient equipment, we have already achieved major reductions in electricity and gas use. These investments translate into substantial energy savings — and lower CO₂ emissions year after year.
