Australian Paper Opens Maryvale Recycled Mill

 

ProPrint, Parramatta, Australia, reports production has now begun at Australian Paper’s $90-million-investment Maryvale recycled paper mill, aiming to help drag the recently embattled company into profit by as soon as the end of this year. Maryvale’s opening comes two months after the company decided to shut down the Shoalhaven specialty paper mill with the loss of 75 jobs, and launched a wide-ranging turnaround strategy to stem four straight years of losses.

This mill will turn 80,000 metric tpy of wastepaper into 50,000 metric tpy of pulp, massively increasing its recycled capacity from a previous 15,000 metric tpy.

So far, the mill is only producing copy paper, but will soon expand to the commercial printing and envelope markets. It creates 17 day-to-day jobs and expects another 250 flow-on jobs in related areas as production ramps up. The company says the mill is an important part of its turnaround strategy as it hopes to rebuild market share through capitalizing on growing demand for premium, local recycled paper.

The $90 million price tag includes funding from the Clean Energy Finance Corp. of $9.9 million, federal government funding of $9.5 million, as well as Victorian Government financial aid.

Senior marketing manager for sustainability, Craig Dunn, says the company is increasing its focus on growth products and is seeing higher demand for recycled paper as companies and consumers become more sustainability-conscious.

"We will continue to expand our range of premium recycled printing papers to meet the growing demand, particularly from government and big corporates. We are also seeing more demand from smaller end users for at least 50% recycled paper," he said.

When asked about how Australian Paper will sell generally more expensive recycled paper to increasingly price-conscious and environmentally ambivalent commercial printers, Dunn said the company will work with that industry closely, while noting that locally-sourced paper was faster to market.

"We want to produce competitively priced paper that meets market demands, and develop products that are tailored to the needs of our customers," he added.

Australian Paper produces copy and packaging paper, uncoated commercial printing paper, and envelopes, and is the only company in Australia to do so. The Maryvale’s opening coincides with production ramping up at Norske Skog’s Boyer mill, which produces catalogue and newsprint paper.

Dunn explained Australian Paper has been undertaking an organizational restructure to improve productivity and efficiency, and is working closely with its suppliers to reduce input costs. He said this is all well underway and the plan is to combine sales teams that previously sold different product areas, and streamline financial, IT, and other support services to lower overhead expenses.

"Job losses are inevitable when you lower your cost base, but they will be progressive rather than all at once as the turnaround moves forward," he confirmed. Dunn added it is too early to tell how many redundancies will be necessary.

Australian Paper operations manager Peter Williams says government and industry should support domestic manufacturing and help the environment by buying its paper.

"The Australian Government has specified that it will purchase 100% recycled papers from July 1 this year and we are hopeful that all government departments, federal and state, will recognise the sustainability advantages of Australian-made 100% recycled paper over imports when making their purchase decisions," Williams said.

"The environmental benefits of this project are significant. Importing recycled paper made overseas only adds to Australia’s landfill and also generates significant sea-freight emissions. In contrast, removing 80,000 metric tons of wastepaper from Australia’s landfill saves up to 200,000 metric tons of carbon emissions every year, which is equal to taking more than 70,000 cars off Australia’s roads. The current Australian market demand for recycled content office papers is only one-third of the new plant’s capacity, so we need everyone’s help to lift the demand for Australian-made recycled content paper and do the right thing for our local environment," Williams concluded.