SAICA thanked by Cameron for new paper mill

Mr Fallon told an audience of almost 200 guests at the mill, built at Partington, Manchester, that he was there “to officially thank SAICA on behalf of the Prime Minister David Cameron and the UK for bringing these investments to our shores.”

The 300 million paper mill complex which includes a recovered fibre storage centre and energy plant, has a giant papermaking machine at its heart, known as PM11. The facility has been built by SAICA at Partington on a brownfield site in the borough of Traffford and started operating last year.

Itmanufactures brown paper to make containerboard for strong, lightweight cardboard boxes.

Constructed as part of a state-of-the-art facility, the project represents one of the most modern manufacturing developments seen in the UK in recent years. It is also considered to be Europe’s most advanced mill of its type and as a triumph for SAICA which is a family-owned business. The feedstock of used cardboard and mixed papers comes largely from retail back-of store collections and the municipal recycling stream.

Supply-chain

The minister reflected on how SAICA had developed its packaging business in the UK over the past six years culminating in the mill project. “You have built up a complete packaging supply chain across the UK and Ireland and I understand that here a speed record was broken within three days of the startup of the machine.”

And, Mr Fallonpraised SAICA’s approach to recycling. “Essentially it is all recycling, the paper, the water, the electricity into the grid. This is a showcase of how the industry can be.”

He added: “It is the sustainable credentials of this facility that set it apart. It was built on a brownfield site which was the subject of huge remedial works. Paper is made from recovered materials with increased efficiency and material is produced from waste using a heat and power plant that uses renewable energy.”

Thrilled

SAICA President Ramn Alejandro said:We are thrilled that our world-leading facility is now running at full capacity and are proud to officially open PM11 which has already set new records.”

Mr Alejandro, who is the third generation president of the company, said the mill “is the most advanced of its kind in Europe, the flagship of our business in the UK and the biggest outside of Spain.”

He acknowledged the support given to SAICA in developing the project from “the community, UK Trade and Investment, the British embassy in Spain, and the Department of Business all of whom who were helpful in bringing this plant to conclusion. This has been a truly multinational business success story. We believe in Britain as a place to do business.”

Speaking to letsrecycle.com, Mr Alejandro said he felt family businesses had an advantage in developing new paper mills. The most recent other paper project in the UK was the development of the Palm newsprint mill, again by a family business.

Family

“All the new development have been by family firms with the exception of Mondi in Poland. These include Palm, Saica and VPL. The difference is that you will speak with me in 10 years, we are looking for the long term. I am not looking for my bonus in two years time.”

And, explaining just why the company chose to build the mill, he commented on UK paper recovery figures. “I can say that we have a nice position in this market and are very happy to be here. We looked at this market, which collected about 8 million tonnes of material. Four million tonnes was exported so four million tonnes is there. And, with the lightweight paper [now produced at Partington] there was 500,000 tonnes imported from abroad.”

For local authorities, retailers and waste paper merchants, the development of the SAICA mill has created a major third domestic buyer for used cardboard and mixed papers in the UK alongside Smurfit Kappa and DS Smith, who also all compete with the export market.

Mr Alejandro said that the company would be doing all its trading within its three divisions at market prices, explaining that this was a legal requirement in Spain. It has one division collecting paper- SAICA Natur; another making cardboard boxes – SAICA Pack; and SAICA Paper’s mill in Partington.

Quality

Reflecting on quality issues concerning the recovered material coming into the mill, Forbes Connor, who heads up the recovered fibre side of the business, said that there was good availability of material in the UK. “We have to work with our suppliers including local authorities and waste management companies on the quality issue. While we generally promote source segregation, we know that councils are looking for cost-effective collections.”

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FACTS AND FIGURES

PM11 is SAICAs first recycled paper mill in the UK and the first new containerboard paper mill to be built in the UK for decades. It will produce 450,000tpa of 100% recycled containerboard each year from UK recovered papers.

SAICA says the facility is the final part of 500 million investment plan to become an integrated player in the UKs packaging sector, “providing a closed-loop solution for the manufacture of environmentally friendly, performance papers and corrugated packaging”. PM11 has led to the creation of 94 direct jobs.

The machineproduced paper for the first time on January 15, 2012 setting a new world start up speed record at 1.105 m/min 95 gr/m2. Since that time, the company has been taking the facility through the commissioning phase, testing all parts of the paper machine and ancillary equipment and steadily increasing production.

PM11 is now operating at full capacity, producing 1,500 metres per minute of performance papers in the 75-135gsm range.

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