Seminar/Roundtable and Webinars

RPTA presents a series of member webinars and roundtables throughout the year on subjects of interest to RPTA members. These events are designed to provide members with an opportunity to learn and share knowledge on papermaking topics relevant to manufacturers of recycled board. During discussions, members are encouraged to raise questions, offer insights to solving common problems and share best practices among the membership.

Roundtable/Webinar Archive

January 22, 2025
Webinar on Recovered Fiber Grades & Quality, presented by Shawn State, President of Pratt Recycling at Pratt Industries, and Pat McEnroe, Product Group Director at Kadant Black Clawson. Use these links to access webinar recording and the Power Point Slides.

Notes: There are a few audio skips in the recording, likely due to historically severe winter weather in the Deep South. The embedded videos are better quality in the Poer Point file than in the recording.

October 16, 2024
Seminar on Paper Mill Roll Design and Operation, with presentations by Andritz experts. Presentation Slides are available at this link.

July 15, 2024
Webinar on In-Line Freeness Measurement, presented by BTG Instrument Representatives Jason Shipman and Tyler Spivey.. Use these links to access presentation slides and the webinar recording

January 25, 2024
Webinar on Waste Reduction through Separation and Upcycling, presented by Drew Kinsel, Upcycling Product Manager at Kadant Black Clawson. Use these links to access presentation slides and the webinar recording.

October 18, 2023
Seminar on New Paper Machine Technology, with presentations by Voith and Valmet. Presentation Slides are available at this link.

July 20, 2023
A webinar on Treatment Technologies for Wastewater Reuse, was presented by Everett Gill and Kristen Jenkins, from Brown and Caldwell engineering consultants. The webinar covered technologies that can reduce the concentration of one or more chemicals in process water or mill effluent. Use these links to access presentation slides and the webinar recording.

January 25, 2023
A webinar on Felt Cleaning and Conditioning, was presented by Mike Riffle of Voith. Use these links to access presentation slides and the webinar recording.

October 19, 2022
Seminar on Paper Machine Clothing Design, covering the impact of forming, press and dryer fabrics on paper machine operations. Presentation slides are available at this link.

July 13, 2022
Webinar on Making Product Suitable for Food Contact. The full webinar recording is available here.
Additionally, a copy of the presentation slides are available at this link.

February 23, 2022
Webinar on Water Reuse in Recycle Mills - Challenges & Solutions
The full webinar recording is available here with PowerPoint presentations at these links::

January 21, 2022
A webinar on Building a Training Program from Within was presented by Joel Scheider, Task Trainers, Inc. and Mark Murphy, Westrock, Lynchburg Mill. . Use these links to access presentation slides and the webinar recording.

July 21, 2021
A webinar on Brown Fiber Re-Pulping and Reject Handling Best Practices was presented by Steven Johnson, Kadant Black Clawson. Use these links to access presentation slides and the 60-minute webinar recording.

January 27, 2021
Winder Safety, with presentations by Scott Springmier and Jack Corbett, both from Valmet.
Use these links to access presentation slides and the full 60-minute webinar recording.

October 14, 2020
White Water Pre-Treatment: Control of Dissolved Organics, Biocide Usage, and VFA Production Control.
Presentations by Ryan Coda, Voith Meri; Tom Murphy, Liberty Paper; and Jamie Cutcher, Grief.
Use these links to access presentation slides and the full 90-minute webinar recording.

September 25-26, 2019
Detrashing – Best Practices/Current Technologies
Presentations by Voith and Cascades
Tour of the Cascades Niagara Falls and Greenpac mills

February 6, 2019
Consistency is Often Not Consistent- Best Practices/ Current Technologies
Presented by: Ed Melton, T5GroupLLC.
Webinar access for RPTA members

October 24-25, 2017
On Site Program - Devens, MA
WINDING AND SLITTING
Presentations by: Dienes and GL&V
Moderated by: Rich Townley, Graphic Packaging International, Inc.
Click here for the agenda

March 22, 2017
REVOLUNTARY PMC CLEANING SOLUTIONS USING LESS WATER AND ENERGY
Presented by: Gilles Boulianne, Sustainable Solution
Webinar access for RPTA members

September 21, 2016
Webinar
CREATING A CULTURE OF ACTIVELY ENGAGED PEOPLE
Presented by Conrad Lehfeldt, Team Trek
Moderated by: Rich Townley, Graphic Packaging
Webinar access for RPTA members

October 25-26, 2016
REFINER OPTIMIZTION - PRESENTED BY VALMET
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Tour of Caraustar's Wisconsin Paperboard Mill
For more information and to register for this event, click here.

May 5, 2016
Webinar
USING PREDICTIVE MODELS TO INCREASE MILL PRODUCTION AND QUALITY
Presented by Gary Hopkins, Director of Sales, Process Miner
Moderated by: Tim Hagenbuch, WestRock
Webinar access for RPTA members

May 6, 2015
Webinar
SOY FLOUR – A NEW APPROACH TO STICKIES CONTROL
Presented by: Sujit Banerjee, Professor Emeritus, Institute of Paper Science and Technology, Georgia Institute of Technology
Moderated by: Joanne Arnold, RPTA
Webinar access for RPTA members

May 2014
Webinar
TECHNOLOGIES FOR PAPER TAIL HANDLING AND THREADING
Presented by: Paperchine
Moderated by: Tim Hagenbuch, RockTenn
Webinar access for RPTA members

June 2014
Webinar
CANADA'S CHEMICAL MANAGEMENT PLAN
Presented by: Alexandria Pike, Alexandria Pike of Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP
Moderated by: Joanne Arnold, RPTA
Webinar access for RPTA members

September 2014
On Site Program - Charlotte, NC
VACUUM SYSTEMS
Presentations by: CVN Vooner Paper Machinery
Moderated by: Ed Melton, Seven Hills Paperboard
Click here for the agenda

December 2014
Webinar
PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE & PLANNING
Presented by: PCA Consulting
Moderated by: Chris Wetherford, PaperWorks
Webinar access for RPTA members

May 2013
Webinar
FINES MANAGEMENT IN RECYCLES PAPERBOARD MILLS
Presented by: Jack Block, Ashland Water Technologies
Moderated by: Chris Wetherford, Assistant General Manager, PaperWorks Industries, Inc.
Webinar access for RPTA members

December 2013
Webinar
REJECT HANDLING SYSTEMS AND CLEANER TECHNOLOGY
Presented by: Voith Paper and Voith Meri
Moderated by: Tim Hagenbuch, Cincinnati Mill Manager, RockTenn
Webinar access for RPTA members


LATEST NEWS

Industry Benchmarking Survey
Sampling and sample preparation are complete for the 2025 Profile Study. Samples from 51 paper machines, collected during the first quarter, were blind-coded before shipping to test labs. Report will be issued in early September. All past Survey reports can be accessed at this member-only page.

2025 Winter Webinar
On January 22nd we held a webinar on Recovered Fiber Grades & Quality, presented by Shawn State, President of Pratt Recycling at Pratt Industries, and Pat McEnroe, Product Group Director at Kadant Black Clawson. The recording and Power Point slides from the webinar are available at this RPTA members only site, along with materials from other past RPTA educational events.

UPCOMING EVENTS

2025 Production-Technical Seminar
TAPPICon 2025 will be held May 4 – 7, 2025, at the Minneapolis Convention Center.

This year, RPTA’s Production-Technical Seminar will be integrated into TAPPICon.

RPTA members at mills that make 100% (or very high percentage) recycled containerboard, paperboard, or pulp (and their corporate support staff) will register through RPTA for a special, low registration fee of $800.

Included in the $800 fee are TAPPICon and four RPTA exclusive events for our members:

  1. End Chemistry Mini-Course – May 5, 7:00 to 9:00 am
  2. Member Lunch – May 5, 11:30 am to 1:00 pm
  3. Member Roundtable Breakfast- May 6, 7:45 to 8:45 am
  4. Member Networking Room – May 5 and 6, all day

RPTA Operating Board Officers will be chairing three TAPPICon sessions, with RPTA-recruited speakers, on topics of interest to our members:

  1. Safety Walk/Safety Talk
  2. Achieving the Right Amount of Strength
  3. Waste Reduction and Alternative Fuels

Register here for TAPPICon 2025 & RPTA Special Events by April 14, 2025. Nonmembers, and members not associated with recycled mills, should register through TAPPICon.

Keep abreast of TAPPICon Program details and travel information at TAPPICon 2025.