Essity has announced plans to invest in its Prudhoe Mill in Northumberland that will allow it to recycle lower grade paper into tissue products.
Subject to receiving planning permission from Northumberland County Council, the old Unifibres building will be demolished and replaced with a new building with the latest recycling technology. It will also be more energy efficient.
Essity programme manager Paul Oliver said: “The old Unifibres building has served us well. But both it and some of the equipment it houses have reached the end of their working lives.
“Essity is committed to a more sustainable future, and using recycled paper in our toilet rolls and paper towels has always been central to that. A high proportion of recycled paper in our products is also popular with our supermarket customers and environmentally-aware shoppers.
“In the past, most of our recycled pulp was made from office wastepaper, but availability went down as companies moved away from printers and photocopiers in favour of email and PDFs. The post-Covid working from home trend has accelerated that.”
Essity will look to recycle lower grade material, including cardboard packaging, at the new facility.
