Graphic Packaging’s Waco CRB mill targeted for Q4 startup

Construction on Graphic Packaging’s $1 billion recycled paper mill in Waco, Texas, remains on track and, according to Graphic Packaging International (GPI) Director Ed Tucciarone, the coated recycled paperboard (CRB) mill still is targeted for startup late this year.

Tucciarone provided the update during a webinar Wednesday, “Paper Industry Update Fireside Chat,” sponsored by the Washington-based Recycled Materials Association.

Plans for the project initially were announced in February 2023 as part of GPI’s broader mill network optimization strategy. GPI’s current CRB mill network includes sites in Kalamazoo, Michigan; Middletown, Ohio; and East Angus, Quebec, but as part of its optimization plan, the company eventually will close the Middletown and East Angus sites as it prepares for startup in Waco.

GPI’s planned optimized mill network will include the Kalamazoo and Waco CRB mills as well as virgin paperboard mills in Louisiana, Texas and Georgia.

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GPI consumes approximately 1.4 million tons of recovered fiber annually, 50 percent of which is old corrugated containers (OCC) while the rest is a mix of preconsumer high grades and box cuts.

The Waco facility is expected to produce about 1,500 tons per day of CRB. The site will employ a similar system to the one used at its mill in Kalamazoo. After decommissioning its K3 CRB machine in Kalamazoo in October 2023, GPI will utilize three paper machines between its Kalamazoo and Waco sites to produce a combined 4,500 tons per day of what Tucciarone says is “high-quality CRB.”

“The K2 machine and the new Waco machine will be state-of-the-art machines, as good as any machines in the world and can compete with any machines in the world,” Tucciarone said. “The good news for us as GPI is concerned is the last three CRB machines built in North America [are] machines that we’ve had, so we think we have a little competitive edge as far as production and the quality that we produce on those machines.”

Production at the Waco mill is expected to start in the fourth quarter of this year, and Tucciarone said the construction phase is progressing well. Steel erection and installation are about 90 percent complete and the paper machine as well as the fiber line system are about two-thirds installed.

“We had a lot of learnings from the K2 machine that we did two years ago as far as the learnings of making the machine, putting the machine together,” he said, noting there are more than 1,000 skilled trade workers at the site daily working on building the paper machine.

The fiber line will include three pulpers, including a top-line pulper, which is a drum pulper that can process polycoated paper, and a filler pulper, which can process OCC and solid unbleached sulphate (SUS) along with bales that includes a combination of box cuts and SUS—something GPI’s Kalamazoo mill does not have.

As far as feedstock, Tucciarone estimates the Waco mill will consume about 20,000 tons per month of OCC sourced throughout Texas and said the company already is in talks with suppliers. GPI also plans to source most of its SUS box cuts and solid bleached sulphate (SBS) grades internally, and pre-inventory buying is expected to start sometime this spring.

The recovered fiber warehouse in Waco will feature 135,000 square feet of storage for bales, and there will be a three-car rail siding and 14 truck docks between the warehouse and the stock prep area where trailers can be unloaded.

“Everything is going well and we’re really excited about this project and where it’s going to put us competitively in the CRB business,” Tucciarone said.

The Kalamazoo and Waco CRB mills represent more than $2 billion of capital investment for GPI.

“Once Waco is up and running, we'll be able to service the entire North American market with the highest quality coated recycled paperboard from two locations in Michigan and Texas,” CEO Michael Doss said during GPI’s third-quarter earnings call in October 2024. “In Waco, we will further expand the company's long-term competitive advantage in both cost and quality.”