The facility is being proposed by Spain's largest paper manufacturer, SAICA, for a site at Partington Wharfside with the capacity to produce 400,000 tonnes a year of lightweight recycled paper to be used in the manufacture of corrugated boxes.
Amid the doom and gloom of the credit crunch, this is welcome news for the people of Partington and the surrounding area
Mike Claydon, SAICA Containerboard UK Ltd
The move follows an announcement in June that SAICA was buying SCA's UK and Ireland conventional corrugated business for £100 million cash, subject to regulatory approval, and that SCA's New Hythe mill in Kent would close in 2010 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Construction is now likely to begin in December 2008 on the new paper mill and it is expected to become operational in 2010, creating 200 new jobs and increasing overall UK production by 160,000 tonnes.
Speaking after the committee hearing last Thursday (October 9), Mike Claydon, managing director of SAICA Containerboard UK Ltd, said: “I am delighted that committee members have given their backing to this £300 million investment in Partington.
“Amid the doom and gloom of the credit crunch, this is welcome news for the people of Partington and the surrounding area. SAICA is committed to filling as many jobs as possible from the local area and we will be beginning the recruitment drive in earnest,” he added.
The Partington Wharfside site lies to the north east of Partington village and covers an area of around 15 hectares (39 acres). It is bounded by the Manchester Ship Canal to the northwest and the A6144 Manchester Road to the East.
SAICA described itself as a family-owned Spanish company that was a “world leader” in the production of lightweight corrugated papers from recovered paper and cardboard.
The company currently employs over 7,000 people in Spain, France, Portugal, Italy, Ireland and the UK and has an annual turnover of 3.1 billion Euros.
The firm currently has two corrugated box plants in the UK and one in Ireland.
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