Paper

Photo courtesy of Georgia Ports Authroity / Jeremy Polston

Celadon invests $155M in recycled brown pulp facility

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has announced that Celadon Development Corp. plans to invest more than $155 million to open its North American headquarters and recycled pulp manufacturing facility in Savannah, Georgia.

Celadon is a joint venture partnership of Kamine Development Corp. and Nicollet Industries. It was formed to deploy large-scale recycled brown pulp infrastructure across North America.

According to a news release from Kemp’s office, this represents the first phase of Celadon’s investment in the state. The company will establish a North American headquarters and a recycled brown pulp manufacturing facility, opening a second production line during the next phase of its Georgia expansion.

Celadon Development Corp.’s Savannah plant will produce 450,000 tons per year of recycled fiber pulp during phase one and 900,000 tons per year after phase two is completed. Upon completion of the second phase, the company expects to export about 87,000 20-foot equivalent units of finished product through the Port of Savannah annually.

In November, Celadon opened a 65,000-square-foot dry processing plant for clean old corrugated containers and plans to establish a logistics operation in Savannah, according to the news release from the governor’s office.

“The state of Georgia, the Georgia Ports Authority and the Savannah Economic Development Authority have made our project possible,” says Tim Zosel, CEO of Celadon Development Corp. “The teams are incredibly proactive, and we could not have developed this project without their support.”

Kamine Development Corp. did not provide details on the timeline for the Port of Savannah project.

Celadon made news earlier in 2021 when the Port Tampa Bay Board of Commissioners in Florida announced Celadon’s plans to lease 37 acres of land to construct a paper and cardboard recycling plant with “significant economic and sustainability benefits, generating up to 20,000 export containers per year,” creating approximately 100 jobs and involving a capital investment of $160 million during phase one of the project.