Kruger Products has announced a major increase in its production of Scotties® facial tissues at its Richelieu Plant in Gatineau, Québec, Canada.
Through this expansion project, which received investments totaling $14.5 million and created 16 jobs, Kruger Products commissioned a new facial tissue converting line at its Richelieu Plant in November 2023. The additional equipment will increase the production of facial tissue by 25%.
Another component of the project will be rolled out at the Laurier Plant, also in Gatineau, where new equipment will collect tissue production residues that will be repulped for the manufacture of value-added projects. This component, which is expected to be completed in June 2025, will also enable the Laurier and Richelieu Plants to increase their productivity.
Investissement Québec provided support for the project in the form of a $7.27-million loan granted under the ESSOR program.
"I congratulate everyone who contributed to the installation of our new converting line at the Richelieu Plant, on time and on budget," said Michel Manseau, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Consumer Products - Canada, Kruger Products. "Ultimately, our recent investments and our new converting line in Gatineau will allow us to increase our facial tissue capacity by 2.2 million cases annually by providing high quality products and diverse capability to respond to the increase in demand observed in the North American market."
Since 2018, Kruger Products has invested more than $1 billion in state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities to meet consumer needs.
"The new converting line in Gatineau consolidates our Richelieu Plant as a centre of excellence in facial tissue manufacturing and is part of a broader objective to expand the company's activities in North America," Kruger Products stated in a press release.
Kruger Products has ten plants in North America with significant capacity to supply facial tissue to the market under the Scotties® and Bonterra™ brands in Canada and White Cloud® in the United States.
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