Smurfit Kappa converts pack waste into compost

The move has stopped the waste from being sent to landfill and has taken more than 85 lorries off the road each year.

The earth sludge, which is used to remove ink and paper dust from machinery, is being composted by Land Networks (Gainsborough) using its “deep clamp composting” technique.

Land Networks said the raw green and biodegradable material is delivered and placed in a large heap (or clamp) approximately three metres high. It is processed on a custom-built base which is specifically engineered to protect groundwater. The composting process takes up very little space and has less chance of odour problems.

The clamp is periodically turned, allowing material that was on the outside to be rotated to the inside. The composting material therefore has a small surface area relative to volume and most of it reaches and maintains pasteurisation temperatures.

Finally, after several weeks, the compost is ready and spread on local farmland, improving the soil structure and fertility, providing nutrients and locking them into the soil ready for the crops to use.

Smurfit Kappa Northampton general manager Paul Gavin said the firm was delighted to have implemented such a “forward-thinking and innovative composting scheme”.

“The programme is so successful that we are currently investigating how it could be rolled out,” he said. “We want to replicate it within other areas of our organisation throughout our paper and packaging manufacturing sites within the UK.”

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