SCA Prepares to Close Tissue Machine at Stubbins Mill in U.K.

A report  by the Bury Times, U.K., said that tissue maker SCA (Sweden) has begun a consultation period with its 140 member Stubbins mill staff in preparation for losing up to 34 jobs. Management plans to close one of its paper machines. SCA bought the site in 2012 as part of a wider acquisition of Georgia-Pacific’s European tissue operations and has since carried out an in-depth review of the business.

This concluded with the proposal that one paper machine should be closed at the site. The machine to be shuttered produces mother reels used in the tissue industry to create a range of products. SCA management blamed oversupply in the mother reel industry causing the machine to become surplus to requirements. Among other factors, the machine made a size that lacks a great deal of demand in the U.K. at the present time as well as costing too much to update and maintain the ageing components. 

SCA is the largest consumer tissue company in the U.K. and Ireland. The Stubbins mill is one of six SCA facilities across the U.K. Last year alone, 66% of households in the U.K bought SCA-branded products such as TENA, Plenty, Cushelle, Velvet, and Bodyform.