Mondi Ltd, Richard Bay - South Africa

Mondi, the pulp and paper and packaging division of Anglo American plc, is among the leading international manufacturers of business paper and packaging.

At its Richards Bay Mill (Northern KwaZulu-Natal) Mondi produces 575,000 tons of eucalyptus pulp and whitetop kraftliner.

As a result of a 40% increase in its capacity for bleached eucalyptus pulp production, Mondi Ltd required a new secondary effluent treatment plant which would :

• treat and reduce the COD, BOD₅ and AOX pollutant loads,
• provide high availability and optimized performance and be easy to operate.
  
  

Mondi Paper Ltd awarded Aquaflow (a Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies' company) the extension of the wastewater treatment plant using an activated sludge treatment based on MBP (Minimum Biosludge Production).

The extension is composed of :

• MBP selector plug flow process
• secondary clarifier with a built-in thickener
• excess sludge dewatering with centrifuges

The installation has the following advantages :

• compactness
• low sludge production
• easy to operate