WEPA Takes over Business Activities of Arjowiggins' Greenfield Deinked Pulp Plant

WEPA Hygieneprodukte, headquartered in Arnsberg, Germany, has been named to take over the business activities of the Arjowiggins Greenfield plant in Chateau-Thierry, France. The decision was taken by the commercial court of Nanterre in late March.

The greenfield mill is part of the graphic paper division of the French Arjowiggins Group and filed insolvency together with two sister companies in January 2019. With 74 employees the plant has a production capacity of approximately 130,000 tpy of de-inked pulp for various applications such as graphic paper and tissue.

Martin Krengel, CEO of the WEPA Group, said, “As a family business we have an overall sustainable orientation and the use of recovered paper is an essential component of our raw material strategy. With the takeover of the greenfield mill we further strengthen our position as a European private label tissue specialist and as a market leader in the field of recycled papers. In addition, we ensure our long-term supply with deinked pulp.”

The WEPA Group is the third largest supplier in the European tissue market with an annual turnover of about € 1.2 billion. The family business employs around 3,800 people at 12 locations throughout Europe, including two plants in France with about 700 employees. By integrating the greenfield site, WEPA expands its capacity in the processing of recovered paper and further optimizes its supply chain ensuring to meet the high demand for recycled and hybrid (a combination of recycled and pure pulp) tissue products on a high quality and sustainability base. It is the third largest supplier in the European tissue market. WEPA produces hygiene papers and offers its customers solutions that focus on consumer needs. With 22 paper machines, a total quantity of 800,000 tons of high quality toilet paper, kitchen towels, handkerchiefs, cosmetics, napkins, industrial papers and towel papers are produced every year. In the consumer sector, the products are marketed mainly as private labels to European retailers. In addition, the business unit WEPA Professional supplies complete hygiene paper and dispenser systems to the away-from-home sector.

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