Essity is a major tissue producer in the UK producing brands such as Plenty kitchen roll and Cushelle toilet rolls as well as supplying own-brand products for retailers such as Sainsbury’s and Tesco.
This week Essity said that building work has started on “one of the UK’s most advanced waste paper recycling plants” at Prudhoe. The company noted that Northumberland county council granted planning permission late last year for the multi-million-pound scheme – which is the Swedish tissue giant’s single biggest investment across any of its six UK sites in the last 10 years.
The work involves replacing an existing 50-year-old recycling plant with a new facility housing “the latest in paper-recycling technology”. Essity says this will reduce energy costs and increase its ability to make household tissue products from recycled fibre. An essential part of the process is thought to be a modern pulper which can handle different types of material from lower grades, including a signficant amount of cardboard and printed material.
Recycled
Traditionally Essity’s main feedstock for the recycled pulp it uses in tissue making had been from office waste paper. But, with significant falls in the amount of office waste paper available in light of the move to digital working and with more people working from home, the company has had to adapt.
Now it will use a variety of lower grade mixed papers from household and household-like waste streams although restrictions on the amounts of contaminants allowed are likely. Other lower grade sources could also be sought.
Tissue can also be made from virgin wood fibre pulp but using mixed paper means that the company can produce a recycled product and have an alternative to the use of virgin pulp.
Investment
Essity said that the project represents the largest financial investment at the mill since the installation of its second paper machine in the early 1980s; the work will see the total demolition of the existing Unifibres complex. Four replacement buildings will be towards the centre of the site and less visible from the main road – with completion by late 2025. The work will be carried out by Gateshead-based Robertson Construction North East.
Essity programme manager, Paul Oliver said: “The significance of this investment cannot be over-stated. It will enable us to recycle lower-grade paper and board, enhance our ability to segregate plastic and metal contaminants, reduce waste sent to landfill and improve energy efficiency.”
Mr Oliver continued: “Our old Unifibres facility was at the end of its working life and this scale of investment helps secure the future of the mill, helps us to continue meeting demand for our products such as Cushelle, Velvet and Tork and, importantly, provides a more attractive and safer working environment for employees.”
Seeing a major global company like Essity make this kind of commitment to sustainable manufacturing in Northumberland is great news
Northumberland county councillor for Prudhoe South, Gordon Stewart said investments of this kind were vital if the region was to prosper.
Councillor Stewart commented: “Across the UK, manufacturers are facing so many challenges at the moment and seeing a major global company like Essity make this kind of commitment to sustainable manufacturing in Northumberland is great news.
“It will secure long-term jobs and apprenticeships and sends out a strong message about just how innovative, aspirational and caring of the environment our local businesses can be.”
Manchester
In the UK Essity has a mill at its integrated Manchester site making paper and converting it into products such as Plenty and Cushelle toilet roll as well as own brand labels for customers such as Asda and Tesco. The company’s Skelmersdale mill makes premium tissue while other plants include a mill at Ramsbottom, Lancashire and in Flint, Wales.
Useful link
Essity
Subscribe for free