Schweitzer-Mauduit International Inc. has reached a multi-year deal to supply fine papers that will be used to manufacture fire-safe cigarettes for the Australian market.
The papers will help British American Tobacco Australia Ltd. comply with a new Australian law that requires all cigarettes sold in the country to be low ignition propensity, or LIP, compliant by March 23, 2010.
The National Coalition for Fire-Safe Cigarettes estimates that fires caused by cigarettes kill 700-900 people in the U.S. per year. Fire-safe or LIP-compliant cigarettes are much more likely to extinguish on their own than normal cigarettes when left unattended or thrown on the ground, according to the organization’s Web site.
Schweitzer-Mauduit, based in Alpharetta, is the world’s largest supplier of fine papers for the tobacco industry. The company also makes specialty papers for other applications.
It employs more than 3,000 people worldwide through operations in Brazil, Canada, France, Indonesia, Philippines, U.S. and a joint venture under construction in China.
Visit www.schweitzer-mauduit.com.
