Pulp and Paper Manufacturing

Pulp and Paper Manufacturing

• Pulp and Paper Manufacturing IRC’s 2019 Skills Forecast
• IRC Membership
• Skills Impact – Skills Service Organisation

Employment snapshot

Employment levels for the Converted Paper Product Manufacturing industry sector have fluctuated over the period 2000 to 2019, with a sharp rise from around 6,600 in 2017 to 9,300 in 2018. Levels remained relatively steady between 2018 and 2019, however, employment levels over the next five years to 2024 are projected to decrease to roughly 8,100.

The employment level in the Pulp, Paper and Paperboard Manufacturing industry sector has declined overall between the years 2000 and 2019 (from around 6,600 to 2,000). There was a small increase between 2018 and 2019, and this slight upwards trend is predicted to continue up until 2024.

An overall decline in employment levels has also occurred in the Pulp, Paper and Converted Paper Product Manufacturing nfd industry sector, however, small increases are predicted over the next five years to 2024.

The occupations of Paper and Wood Processing Machine Operators and Printers make up over 15% of the Pulp, Paper and Converted Paper Product Manufacturing industry, however, the biggest growth in employment levels are predicted for the occupations of Other Stationary Plant Operators and Forklift Drivers, at 10% and 9% respectively.

Industry insights on skills needs

The following generic skills have been identified as important for the industry:

• Learning agility/Information literacy/Intellectual autonomy and self-management skills
• Design mindset/Thinking critically/Systems thinking/Problem solving skills
• Language, Literacy and Numeracy (LLN) skills
• Technology use and application skills
• Communication/Collaboration, including Virtual collaboration/Social intelligence skills.

In addition, the Pulp and Paper Manufacturing IRC’s 2019 Skills Forecast has identified the following priority skills for the industry:

• Pulp de-inking and bleaching for high and medium grade paper products
• Technology skills for paper bag, paper stationery and sanitary paper product manufacturing.

With the availability of training materials, trainers and assessors within large scale businesses, there is an overarching preference among the industry to conduct in-house training to minimise disruptions to business efficiency and productivity that occur when employees participate in off-site training. In-house or vendor training in response to technology upgrades is also considered a more efficient method for businesses, minimising interruptions to production. Additional barriers to formal training include restricted access to publicly funded training support and limited access to formal training providers as currently there are no Registered Training Organisations that provide training in Paper and Pulp Manufacturing qualifications.

As outlined in the Pulp and Paper Manufacturing IRC’s 2019 Skills Forecast a diversity of challenges and opportunities are faced by the industry, brought about by a range of factors:

• Resources – The scarcity of wood fibre and a growing global demand for the resource continues to be a concern around the world. In response to this, Australia has high rates of secondary fibre production which provide necessary resources and opportunities for the industry, with industrial paper and paperboard recycling rates equal to Europe and the United States.
• Environment – Although the industry is a world leader in sustainability and innovation through its use of energy and water efficient practices, considerable efforts and advancement are being made to ensure the sustainability of the industry. Water systems are used across pulp and paper facilities which enable the recycling of wastewater for things like farm irrigation. The sector is also looking to expand on the ability of pulp and paper mills to deliver baseload electricity to the grid with a move towards investing in Energy from Waste (EfW) at major mills.
• Business and economics – Growth in the industry is driven by two main segments, the packaging and tissue markets. The tissue market however faces ongoing competition from predominantly Chinese imported tissue products which put consistent pressure on local producers who are sustained by the marketing strategies for branded products. Global growth in online shopping, increasing product consumption, increase in pre-packaged foods and manufacturing are behind the high demand for packaging paper.
• Emerging products and markets – Emphasis is being placed on the economic potential of bioenergy and bioprocessing, these occur when pulp and paper mills use chemical processing to extract new value from fibres and residues. Currently these by-products are used to create energy for the mills, but global developments suggest these processes can be used for higher value products like ethanol, polymers, carbon fibres and diesel fuel. It is expected these emerging by-products and associated processes will demand new skillsets from workers.
• Technology – In order to keep up with changing market demands mainly resulting from increased digitisation, the conversion of newsprint mills to containerboard producers are considered inevitable, even with the significant associated conversion costs.
• Cross sectoral concerns / dependencies – Infrastructure development with a focus on air freight and digital networks for real-time supply chain management have been identified as key areas of focus for improving efficiency and competitiveness in the market.

The National Pulp and Paper Sustainability Report further highlights improvements to environmental performance made by the industry, including reductions of direct emissions of greenhouse gases by 5.1% and energy intensity by 5.3% since 2014–15, this equates to removing 29,192 cars off the road and enough energy to power approximately 122,252 houses.

Industry associations and advisory bodies

Australasian Pulp and Paper Industry Technical Association (Appita)

Australian Forest Products Association

ForestWorks

IndustryEdge

Employee associations

Australian Workers' Union (AWU)

CFMEU Forestry and Furnishing

Industry research and development services bodies

Forest and Wood Products Australia Ltd

The Bioresource Processing Institute of Australia (BioPRIA)

Relevant research

2018 National Pulp & Paper Sustainability Report – Industry Edge

Australian Forest and Wood Products Statistics March and June Quarters 2018 – Department of Agriculture and Water Resources

Department of Employment 2017, Employment Projections, available from the Labour Market Information Portal

• by ANZSIC 3 digit industry, employment projections to May 2023
  
  • 150 Pulp, Paper and Converted Paper Product Manufacturing
  • 151 Pulp, Paper and Paperboard Manufacturing
  • 152 Converted Paper Product Manufacturing.
• by ANZSCO, selected occupations, employment projections to May 2023
  
  • 7113 Paper and Wood Processing Machine Operators
  • 3923 Printers
  • 7129 Other Stationary Plant Operators
  • 7213 Forklift Drivers
  • 8321 Packers.

Australian Bureau of Statistics 2018, Employed persons by Industry group of main job (ANZSIC), Sex, State and Territory, November 1984 onwards, 6291.0.55.003 - EQ06, viewed 1 November 2018 http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/6291.0.55.003May%202018?OpenDocument

• Employed total by ANZSIC 3 digit industry, 2000 to 2018, May quarter
  
  • 150 Pulp, Paper and Converted Paper Product Manufacturing
  • 151 Pulp, Paper and Paperboard Manufacturing
  • 152 Converted Paper Product Manufacturing.

Australian Bureau of Statistics 2017, 2016 Census – employment, income and unpaid work, TableBuilder. Findings based on use of ABS TableBuilder data.

• Employment level by 2 digit Pulp, Paper and Converted Paper Product Manufacturing industry, and 4 digit level occupations to identify the relevant VET-related occupations in the industry as a proportion of the total workforce.

Training data has been extracted from the National VET Provider Collection, Total VET students and courses from the following training package or qualifications:

PPM – Pulp & Paper Manufacturing Industry Training Package.

This includes superseded qualifications and training packages.

Data covers a range of selected student and training characteristics in the following categories and years:

• 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 program enrolments
• 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 subject enrolments
• 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 program completions.

Total VET students and courses data is reported for the calendar year. Program enrolments are the qualifications, courses and skill-sets in which students are enrolled in a given period. For students enrolled in multiple programs, all programs are counted. Program completion indicates that a student has completed a structured and integrated program of education or training. Location data uses student residence. Subject enrolment is registration of a student at a training delivery location for the purpose of undertaking a module, unit of competency or subject. For more information on the terms and definitions, please refer to the Total VET students and courses: terms and definitions document.

Low counts (less than 5) are not reported to protect client confidentiality.

Percentages are rounded to one decimal place. This can lead to situations where the total sum of proportions in a chart may not add up to exactly 100%.

Priority and generic skills data have been extracted from the Pulp and Paper Manufacturing IRC’s 2019 Skills Forecast