The grant will contribute to a project with a total development cost of over £120 million, which will allow Shotton to increase the recycling capacity of its Deeside mill by 321,000 tonnes a year. According to WRAP, the grant means the UK’s capacity for recycling newsprint will be increased by 30%.
Part of the grant, £7.8 million, was given the green light by the Commission under regional aid rules, while the remainder was cleared on account of the environmental benefits associated with the venture.
State Aid clearance is required when public funds are used to provide support to a private company. WRAP notified the European Commission of this project in March 2002.
Commenting on the announcement, WRAP chief executive Jennie Price said: “We are very pleased that financial aid for this major recycling scheme has now been given the green light by Brussels. Over the next five years this will mean that over 1.6M tonnes of newspapers and magazines will be diverted from landfill and used to make a new product of the highest quality. This project will be good for recycling, good for the economy and good for the environment.”
Shotton will convert existing paper machinery to using waste paper, rather than virgin material, to produce newspaper.
The project will also include a new sludge combustor machine that will recover the calorific value from 200,000 tonnes of de-inking sludge a year, which will be expected to be produced from Shotton’s increased use of recycled paper.
Environmental aid
WRAP worked with the government in Westminster and the Welsh Assembly on the grant, and had originally requested clearance from the Commission for £23 million. However, the Commission decided that the full amount did not qualify under the environmental aid regulations.
The Commission said the use of 100% recycled fibre was “common practice in the paper industry” and decided the grant represented investment in newsprint production as a priority. It said: “The environmental guidelines provide only for aid to be granted to investments that improve a company’s individual environmental record. In this case, the aid encourages Shotton to take up waste paper that may originate from products sold by any paper producer (Commission’s italics).
“In the instant case, the aid is granted to help the UK to achieve its general obligations under the EC Landfill and Packaging directives. Allowing aid for this reason would infringe the “polluter pays principle”, which is the cornerstone of the Community environmental policy.”
Shotton’s sludge combustor did qualify under the environmental aid rules, however, because it will reduce Shotton’s own pollution.
The wider implications of the Commission’s decision will now be looked at by WRAP. Ms Price said: “We will now be examining closely the basis on which the Commission has reached its decision. In WRAP’s view, it will be very important for the UK government to continue its ongoing discussion with the Commission about the application of the environmental guidelines to recycling projects as pressure is growing on member states to improve their performance in this vital area of environmental policy.”
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