Chinese mill group Nine Dragons has announced plans to add a recycled pulp line to one of its US mills.
At the Old Town Mill in Maine, Nine Dragons intends to produce 200 tonnes per day of unbleached recycled pulp at a mill that typically uses virgin material. This equates to production of more than 70,000 tonnes of recycled pulp per year.
It will consumer predominantly old corrugated containers as its primary feedstock from local sources. It isn’t clear if the pulp will be used for local manufacturing or for export.
The Old Town Mill was opened in 1860 as a sawmill and moved into pulp production in 1882. It was shut in 2015, but was restarted by Nine Dragons after it purchased it in 2018.
Old Town Division vice president and general manager Bruce Hogan said: “We are thrilled to start our new recycled pulping operations at the Old Town mill.
“This multi-million dollar investment from Nine Dragons Paper represents another vote of confidence in the State of Maine’s forest products sector, the Old Town Division, and our vision to build a sustainable company for the next 100 years.”
