Speaking at the inauguration of the facility on Friday (July 8), Jussi Pesonen, president and CEO of UPM said: “The MRF clearly demonstrates how integrated manufacturing can work. We are working hard to maximise reuse and minimise waste. The UPM Shotton site is a clear example of our Biofore vision and strategy in action.”
The state-of-the-art facility, supported by a £1.7 million investment by the Welsh Government, has the capacity to sort 270,000 tonnes-a-year of commingled material and UPM said that it has been designed to achieve the highest recovery rates in the UK at 99%.
In addition to a unique design, UPM said the facility has the latest sorting and screening equipment in the market. “Using UPM’s technical knowledge combined with world-class installers and technology providers, the UPM MRF will output high quality materials for further reprocessing off site. 120,000 tonnes of high quality paper will be recovered for paper making at the North Wales site.”
‘Fantastic’
At the opening event, Pekka Huhtaniemi, the Finnish Ambassador to the United Kingdom said: “UPM has created a fantastic facility here on their Shotton site. Not only is the technology impressive but also the motivated workforce. In addition to their renewable energy power plant, UPM Shotton is a good example of Cleantech thinking.”
The facility was opened in front of 180 key suppliers and partners. It is capable of sorting six types of plastic as well as metals, paper and glass. Developed by UPM, in conjunction with Canadian MRF builders Machinex and optical sorting specialist TiTech, the plant has an intricate web of conveyors, sorting stations and separators to ensure that the paper coming out of the plant is sorted as a priority material. This involves glass being removed at a very early stage of the process.
The building is rated BREEAM excellent using abundant levels of natural light and recycled water.
At full operation the facility will employ 160 people in addition to the 405 staff working for the UPM Shotton site which produces 100% recycled fibre newsprint. UPM is the largest manufacturer of 100% recycled newsprint in the UK, recycling 640,000 tonnes a year.
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