The Will-Pemco machine has been transferred from the company's Kangas Mill in Finland, following that mill's switch from producing cut sheet paper to publication papers on reels.
 M-Real's New Thames mill at Sittingbourne, Kent (photo: M-Real) |
The move has also come because of the increasing demand for recycled paper in the UK, the Finnish company said.
The newly-installed machine at the plant in Kemsley, near Sittingbourne, takes large reels of paper – around 2.5 tonnes in weight each – and cuts them down into A4 size, before they are packed in 500-sheet reams.
Alan Young, conversion manager at M-Real New Thames said: “Demand for recycled papers from customers is increasing, for commercial uses as well as photocopying, desktop printers and home use.
“As well as increased volumes, we can now provide a wider range of cut-size products, with faster lead times and improved stock availability,” Mr Young added.
Installation
Installation of the additional cutsize machine has taken nine months from approval to start-up, but the company said the line had been in production several weeks ahead of schedule. This, despite a limited amount of space available for the additional machine.
M-Real said it had installed new kinds of conveyor systems to facilitate the mill conversion, and has added new recruits to its 330 staff to run the new plant. The company has also increased its automated labelling capacity.
M-Real, which takes in waste paper from across the South East of England, produces about 225,000 tonnes of uncoated business and graphic papers at the New Thames mill.
It said the transfer of its machine to the UK was in line with its aim of achieving “zero waste” in all its operations.
The company's policy on waste was praised by environment minister Ben Bradshaw last month as he paid a visit to the New Thames mill (see letsrecycle.com story).
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