Environment

Investment in UK corrugated production capacity was boosted again this month as German firm ProGroup revealed plans to build a sheet-feeder plant, while SAICA's £300m recycled paper mill was granted planning permission.

Trafford Council branded Spanish group SAICA's 400,000-tonne-a-year recycled paper mill a "triumph" for the borough after giving the green light to the project last month.

Executive councillor Mike Cornes of Trafford Council said that the mill would be "a true catalyst" for economic growth in the Partington and Carrington areas of Manchester.

He said: "Everyone involved is looking forward to the investment that will give us the world's most advanced paper mill, and further to this the 200 new jobs this will bring to the area."

German corrugated board manufacturer ProGroup, meanwhile, revealed plans to open a sheet-feeder plant in Liverpool with an annual capacity of 85,000 tonnes.

The plant will create 50 jobs and start production in January 2009.

A 2.5-metre-wide corrugator, with working speeds of 350 metres per minute, will produce single and double-wall cardboard in the qualities E, B, C, EB and BC.

The additional capacity means Progroup will produce around 820,000 tonnes of corrugated sheetboards in 2009.

DS Smith has also invested a total of £104m in the purchase and upgrade of M-real's New Thames Paper Mill in Kent. That plant is due to come online at the start of next year.

UK corrugated spending
*    DS Smith: total of £104m investment at New Thames Mill
*    ProGroup: building sheet-feeder plant in Liverpool
*    SAICA: spending £300m on recycled mill in Manchester