Last Friday, (April 12), the minister went to the UPM-Kymmene-owned Shotton plant, and loaded paper into a conveyor serving the two existing RCF lines. With a third line, supported by a grant of 23 million arranged by WRAP, the Waste and Resources Action Programme, the plant will take in 620,000 tonnes of recycled newspapers and magazines each year.
The First Minister said: “I am delighted that work is now starting on this major new recycling plant as it is one of the biggest private sector investments in Wales for many decades.” And, Mr Morgan added: “It is also yet more evidence of UPM-Kymmene’s commitment to North East Wales.”
Difficult
Martin Gale, managing director of Shotton, explained how important the WRAP funding for the project was and how difficult it would have been for the company to go ahead without the money. The issue for Shotton in the decision to convert its process to 100% recycled fibre had centred on the sourcing of used newspaper and magazines rather than on the plant’s technology.
Mr Gale explained: “Clearly this is a very important strategic business investment for this mill. It is not a rip-roaring commercial investment for us and clearly the grant through WREB [WRAP’s environmental body] is smoothing over market failure in this area. It is fundamentally a catalyst to do other things in the future. It is also a considerable success for the WRAP process.”
Mr Gale explained that the mill’s customers are starting to accept the use of recycled newsprint. “They are beginning to come round to the this point of view with the development of printing technology. Recycled fibre is becoming a very suitable medium.” And he laid great emphasis on what he saw as a “market failure” to provide recovered material. “The market failure has been to get the fibre out of the waste stream.” This meant that margins on using recovered fibre for large businesses such as Shotton were small: “A payback with a small margin doesn’t make it a commercial investment and WREB helps to meet that market failure,” said Mr Gale.
Praise
WRAP was praised by Mr Gale for its work. And, addressing WRAP representatives who included chief executive Jennie Price, communications director Ray Georgeson and non-executive directors Nick Francis and Bob Chilton, he said: “You guys have gone in at the deep end and you are to be congratulated for this investment. You have chosen the right place for the investment – it has removed a log from the stream. Building this facility is a real challenge for us and we are absolutely marching on with the very progress that is going to bring success.”
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