The Pirinoli paper mill was founded in 1872 by Gaspare Pirinoli, the oldest member of a family of papermakers coming from Intra, on Lake Maggiore. In Roccavione, he purchased with his sons a waterfall coming from the nearby Naviglio canal and built the paper mill, starting production of raw packaging paper in 1883. The main product was the ‘carta da bigat‘, a special paper used in silkworm farming, then a flowering industry in the area.
At the 1889 Paris Universal Exhibition, the Pirinoli brothers bought their first continuous paper-making machine. It was a Bryan Donkin’s Fourdrinier, which could produce paper in continuous rolls. Previously, all paper was manufactured in single sheets, a slow and labour-intensive process.
In 1937 the society was purchased by the Eva’s, who started production of cartonboard for printed boxes, becoming one of the main representatives in the industry, both nationally and abroad. In 1962 and 1994 two advanced continuous production lines were installed to improve the company capacity.
Pirinoli was included in the year 2000 among the top ten continental manufacturers of coated box cartonboard from recycled fiber, with a production over 100,000′ tons per year. In 2006 the business was taken over by Pkarton S.p.A., a company formed by experts, willing to use their knowledgeability to further improve the business performance of a company rich in history and in technical and commercial potential.
In the year 2015 the company became a cooperative.