The key advantages of moving to 1,500mm reels from 1,250mm were found to be 31% fewer rolls to handle, store and splice, and fewer roll changes.

This could result in potential savings of up to 27,100 (EURO40,000) per year.

The disadvantages included, higher investment costs and 44% increased reel weight. Paper mill trimming and rewinding lines may also need to be upgraded.

The project team behind the 16pp report, Watch the next step to larger roll diameters, is to continue to work on a number of areas such as identifying best practices and developing a draft protocol on issues relating to cores.