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 Peat, as fuel, has been replaced by the clean earth gas, also stemming from Groningen,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

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