Valve Maintenance

In many mills, pipes hang from the ceiling. As part of the piping, valves which are used to regulate flow must be operated from below. A recent incident at one of our member's mills, where an employee was hit by a valve falling from 25 feet, shows the importance of maintenance or possible replacement of those valves. He required six stitches, but because he was hearing a bump cap, his injury was not as bad as it could have been.

A description of the incident and the follow-up actions can be found here.


LATEST NEWS

Industry Benchmarking Survey
Mill registration for the 2025 Profile Study is complete, with 50 paper machines participating. First quarter samples from registered mills are due to RPTA Staff by April 4, 2025. 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, 7:30 to 9:30 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.