London-based Ecco Newsprint, which is planning to build a mill on Teesside (see letsrecycle.com story), has revealed that it has secured at 66 acre site on the Wilton Industrial Estate to house a 400,000 tonne-a-year machine.
And, German-owned Palm Paper, which was planning to build a similar-sized mill in King's Lynn in Norfolk (see letsrecycle.com story), has revealed the facility could be twice as big as planned.
However, it is widely believed that there is only currently enough recovered paper to feed one new machine.
There has been some suggestion within the paper industry that Palm Paper might even be interested in buying Ecco Newsprint's new mill, should it find that the King's Lynn site was not suitable.
Yet Ecco Newsprint chief executive Marcus Moir told letsrecycle.com: “There are no plans to sell the mill and it would be inappropriate to speculate as it is too far down the line. You cannot rule it out as a possibility but our expectation is that we would not only be the constructors of the plant but also the operators and we have a good management team in waiting.”
Ecco
In Teesside, Ecco Newsprint has secured its 66 acre site through a 125 year lease agreement with development agency One North East at a “sensible price.”
The land is part of the Wilton International Industrial Estate, and therefore is expected to provide many advantages for a new plant.
Mr Moir said: “From a geographical point of view this is a good place in the UK as the recycling rate has historically been lower in the North and Scotland so we expect that as we get better at recycling there would be more paper available in the region. We are also a long way away from Shotton and Bridgewater and Aylesford so there is a bit less competition for raw materials.”
Mr Moir also explained that the site was designed for industrial purposes with power and steam on tap at a competitive price which made it ideal for a paper mill to be located there.
Now Ecco will finish raising funds before it embarks on construction of the facility, which it hopes will commence later this year.
He said: “We have basically got 70% of our funding from banks and now we require equity investment.”
Palm
In Kings Lynn, Palm Paper revealed that its site would provide capacity to provide an extra paper machine. This would provide an extra 150 jobs and double the plant's 400,000 tonne paper-making capacity to 800,000 tonnes a year.
Writing in a public release, the company said: “The site has the potential for Palm to construct a second paper machine at a later date.”
Palm Paper is now waiting for planning permission to build the facility on the site of a former British sugar beet factory which currently contains a number of derelict industrial buildings.
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