Graphic Packaging decommissioning CRB machine in Kalamazoo

Graphic Packaging is moving forward with its coated recycled paperboard (CRB) network optimization strategy with the permanent decommissioning of its K3 CRB machine at its mill in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

The K3 machine is one of three CRB machines at the Kalamazoo mill and the company’s longest-running machine, producing 125,000 tons of CRB per year. The machine officially ceased production in July.

“Removing higher-cost, less efficient production capacity is part of Graphic Packaging’s CRB optimization plan first announced in 2019 alongside the transformational investment in a new, state-of-the-art K2 CRB machine,” the Atlanta-based packaging company says in a statement.

“Permanently decommissioning the older machine is the company’s next step of network optimization.”

According to Graphic Packaging, its K2 CRB machine has reached expected quality, cost improvement and volume commitments ahead of schedule, prompting the decommissioning of the K3 machine to “support more efficient resource use and margin enhancement goals” for its CRB network.

The installation of the K2 machine in Kalamazoo first was announced in 2019 and represents a $600 million investment for Graphic Packaging. The machine has a reported annual CRB capacity of about 500,000 tons per year and, at the time, the company said it was designed to be the largest and lowest-cost producer of CRB in North America.

Graphic Packaging’s current CRB network includes mills in Kalamazoo; Middletown, Ohio; and East Angus, Quebec. In May, the company announced its intention to close its CRB mill in Tama, Iowa, and as part of its optimization strategy, will eventually close the Middletown and East Angus sites, too, as it prepares to bring online its $1 billion CRB mill in Waco, Texas, in late 2025.

The company’s planned optimized mill network will include the Kalamazoo and Waco sites as well as its virgin paperboard mills in West Monroe, Louisiana; Queen City, Texas; Augusta, Georgia; and Macon, Georgia.

Currently, Graphic Packaging’s mill system produces a reported 4.2 million tons of paperboard per year, consuming 1.4 million tons of recycled fiber last year among its CRB mills. Upon completion of its streamlined mill system, the company anticipates its total paperboard capacity to increase to 4.4 million tons per year.