Pratt Industries’ Valparaiso Paper Recycling Mill Underway
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Pratt Industries, Conyers, Ga., USA, reports that its new paper recycling mill in Valparaiso, Ind., is officially underway. On August 5, the company presented plans for the 205,000-sq. ft. plant to the city's Site Review Committee. The main building will be 920 ft. long and 85 ft. wide, and is 80 ft. high at the tallest point.
The project also includes a 14,000 sq. ft. pulper room, a waste paper storage building that is 40,000 sq. ft., a building for storing the finished rolled stock of 30,000, and another building totaling 43,000 sq. ft.
Company engineer Mac Switkowski said the plant will be ready for occupancy in about a year. For now, the work has involved grading the site and installing the pilings to support the building and the equipment foundations. Pouring of the concrete for the foundation is expected to start this week, he said.
The company also just started engineering of the wastewater treatment plant to pretreat the 650,000 to 700,000 gal. of water used daily in the recycling process. Another feature under design is the trolley system for transporting the recycled product from the paper mill to the adjacent box making plant.
Pratt currently uses about 1,000 lb. of paper a day for the cardboard making process. All of the paper has to be trucked to the plant, but that won't be needed once the new mill is operating. Switkowski said that the recycling process for producing paper also creates fewer odors than the process for turning trees into pulp for paper.
Variances being sought include one for the exhaust stack, which will be 100 ft. high as required by its air emissions permit. The city code limits stacks to 80 ft. Switkowski said the Pratt stack will have the latest technology with "ultra-low emissions." The stack is for removing the water vapor from the process.
