Short history of the strawboard industry in the province of Groningen, The Netherlands
Around 1955, The Netherlands counted 19 straw board - or card-board - factories,
18 of which were located in the province of Groningen, The first factory
in Groningen was established as early as 1869, after several factories had
been established earlier in the German cirties of Emden, Leer and Papenburg,
and in 1867 in the Frisian capital Leeuwarden (The Netherlands). Most factories
were located in the south-eastern par of the province, where straw was amply
available, and peat as fuel, but also the necessary clean water and transport
facilities: waterways and harbours. Labour was available also, as the shipbuilding
industry had declined, together with the peat-moor shipping activities. Ten
of these factories were cöperative enterprises. Around 1950 the Groningen
card-board industry had a unique place in the world, producing for an amount
of 45 million guilders, two-thirds of which was exported, for the most part
to the United Kingdom. This explains the names of some of the Groningen card-board
factories: Albion and Brittannia, both in Oude Pekela, Groningen.
During the second world war, the traditionally important export to the UK
stagnated and after 1945 the industry suffered from overcapacity. A mutual
sales ofiice , NESSO, Netherland's Straw Board Selling Organisation, was
to be the answer to the problem, but an extreme reorganization of this industry
had become inevitable. Some factories that were still independant, affiliated with Bührmann-Tetterode
and KNP (Royal Dutch Paper Factories). The recommended reorganisations led
eventually to very modern plants with in many cases computerized installations,
that could take care of the necessary process- and quality control.
Until 1970 straw was the raw material used in these factrories. In 1983 the
still existing solid board industry (NL: massief kartonindustrie) has become
a modern process-industry, using old paper as raw material. At that time
10 of the 16 Dutch factories are located in the province of Groningen. In
the eighties the traditional pollution-effects of the industry were solved:
each factory cleans it's own waste water and makes it suitable for repeated
use. Peat, as fuel, has been replaced by the clean earth gas, also stemming from Groningen,
Right from the beginning of the card-board industry, some enterprises specialized
in the productuion of printer's board, also called graphic board (NL: grafisch
karton). Even In 1983 this product was manufactured almost only in Groningen.
It was used in for example book-bindings and ring-bindings, making these
more solid and flat. It is also used for the production of jigsaw puzzles
and games. Graphic designers use it for their drawings. Around 1983 100 million
square meters of printer's board were produced in Holland, an equivalent
of 20.000 football grounds taken together. Including the latter the total
Dutch annual production of solid board (NL: massief carton) around 1983 was
360.000 tons, 80% of which stemmed from the province of Groningen. Most of
the Dutch flower and dairy export products at the time were packed in solid
board at that time.
Stroocartonfabriek "Appingedam",
Appingedam, 1905, bewijs van aandeel van f 500,
oplage # = 1000; Aanvankelijk kon de fabriek voldoende stro kopen van de
boeren in de omgeving. Maar in 1909 richtte een groep boeren de anno 2003
nog steeds bestaande cöoperative strocartonfabriek "De Eendracht op", ook
in Appingedam, op een nabijgelegen perceel.. De Stroocartongabriek Äppingedam"
kon toen weinig stro meer opkopen, waardoor haar bestaan al snel werd bedreigd.
Al in 1913 werden de aandelen afgestempeld van f 500 naar f 50, later volgde
failissement in 19??.
source: www.scripophily.nl