Green Bay Packaging Launches 100% Recycled Paper Plant Using Mixed Papers

SEATTLE (Waste 360): Green Bay Packaging is launching a paper mill in Wisconsin that will use 100 percent recycled fiber, add mixed paper and double the capacity of its existing old corrugated paper containers (OCC) plant.

The new $500 million facility will be able to process 685,000 tons per year. End products will be high-performance linerboard and corrugated medium.

Introducing mixed residential paper while controlling for contamination adds complexity. But Green Bay Packaging has designed a robust recycling process focused on dealing with the specific challenges associated with this feedstock and with an overall drop in OCC quality, says Matt Szymanski, vice president of mill operations for Green Bay Packaging.

More cleaning and rejects handling steps have been added to ensure product performance. And the company will employ cutting-edge water management techniques as well as strength enhancement strategies to overcome reduced fiber quality associated with incorporating mixed paper fiber.

“By using state-of-the-art forming technology [to physically create a stronger sheet of paper] and size press technology [to apply strength-enhancing chemistries to products], we will be able to make a step change in product quality. This will allow performance increases in lighter-weight grades,” says Szymanski.

The company also will invest in increased paper machine trim width technology to meet the specs of customers who want wider corrugators in order to make boxes. 

Modern gas boilers will replace a facility-wide coal burner, reducing sulfur dioxide and particulate matter emissions by more than 90 percent. By incorporating a reclaimed water system, it will not be necessary to draw from the Fox River, nor will the operation discharge into this natural resource. Combined green features also will cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent per ton of paper.

Green Bay projects this plant will create 1,000 construction jobs and an additional 200 jobs between now and 2022. But the company’s focus on environment was at least as big a sell to the town of Green Bay.

Courtesy: https://waste360.com