Georgia-Pacific expands recyclable paper padded mailer manufacturing

Georgia-Pacific, a packaging producer based in Atlanta, has expanded its manufacturing footprint by adding sites in Jonestown, Pennsylvania, and McDonough, Georgia, to handle curbside recyclable paper padded mailers. The company says this move supports growing demand for more sustainable shipping envelopes and will expand the availability of the mailers in the Northeast and Southeast to customers including Amazon.

According to a news release from Georgia-Pacific, the company is also adding a third production line at its first mailer manufacturing site that opened in the Phoenix area in 2020.

The company says it is working to hire about 50 employees to work at each of its new locations, and training is underway so that the new facilities can be operational by the end of the year. All three facilities will manufacture multiple sizes of the easy-to-recycle mailer.

“The response to the functionality and recyclability has been very favorable from key customers like Amazon and from consumers,” says Adam Ganz, vice president of commercial development at Georgia-Pacific, who leads the mailer business. “We are eager to expand the availability of this more sustainable alternative to nonrecyclable dual material mailers. This investment demonstrates our commitment to increasing sustainable solutions for the rapidly growing e-commerce segment.”

According to Georgia-Pacific, Amazon introduced the paper padded mailer in 2019 using Epix technology from Henkel Adhesives Technologies to meet demand for a cost-competitive and protective mailer made from a renewable resource that can be recycled by consumers with other paper-based curbside recyclables. Georgia-Pacific says those mailers are made using kraft paper manufactured at Georgia-Pacific’s Palatka, Florida, paper mill and their recyclability has been tested at a recycled fiber mill to verify they can be processed with other paper-based packaging typically used as supply in mills.