Smurfit Kappa invests in UK recycling plants

Ireland-based Smurfit Kappa Group says it has completed an investment programme in its national depot network in the United Kingdom. The programme is “designed to save energy, increase the efficiency of its operations, improve worker safety and enhance customer experience,” says the company.

The work has included development of a new depot in Snodland; the installation of new balers at its Snodland, Blackburn and Glasgow depots; and an additional weighbridge in Nottingham to ease traffic flow into and out of the depot there.

The new Snodland depot in Kent is processing locally sourced paper and cardboard for recycling at the new Smurfit Kappa Townsend Hook mill on the same site, which operates a paper machine producing approximately 250,000 tonnes of containerboard material per year. The depot will also supply recycled paper grades not used at Townsend Hook to other mills. Smurfit Kappa Recycling has constructed the new depot on part of the mill site freed up by its redevelopment, installing a new HBC 120 baler by Bollegraaf in a new building the company says is designed to operate efficiently and safely.

Smurfit Kappa also has installed a second Bollegraaf HBC 120 baler at its Glasgow depot and a larger HBC 140 baler in Blackburn. Each sits at the heart of paper recycling facilities that have been redesigned to provide more efficient and safer working conditions with improved material flows. Locally collected paper and cardboard is made into compacted bales that are then ready for transportation to paper mills for recycling.

When the new balers are idle and waiting for new material, they automatically enter a power save mode after 180 seconds while remaining ready to restart at any time, leading to substantial power savings. As well as being quieter and more efficient, the new balers and their installation have also been designed to be as safe as possible.

The company says it also has invested heavily in a number of other health and safety improvements across its depot network in order to improve pedestrian and transport segregation. This has included the installation of new gates, A-Safe barriers, improved lighting and signage.

Traffic flow into and out of Smurfit Kappa Recycling’s Nottingham depot has also been transformed after the installation of the additional weighbridge. A safer and quicker route for vehicles to move through the depot has been made possible by siting the new weighbridge and exit on one side of the site away from the existing entrance weighbridge. Previously all vehicles had to use one weighbridge and a single entrance and exit.

“At Smurfit Kappa Recycling we are committed to sustainable development as we strive to enhance environmental performance, safety and customer service. This round of investment in the facilities at our Snodland, Glasgow, Blackburn, Nottingham, Birmingham and Tamworth depots is further evidence of this commitment,” says Paul Clarke, the company’s managing director.

Smurfit Kappa owns two paper mills in the U.K., in Birmingham and Snodland, which in a typical year reprocess around 500,000 tonnes of paper and cardboard, enabling the company to recycle as much paper-based packaging as it produces.

Globally, Smurfit Kappa has around 45,000 employees in approximately 370 production sites across 34 countries and with revenue of €8.1 billion in 2015. Those sites are located in 21 countries in Europe and 13 in the Americas, including in Latin America.