Announced last June, the conversion project of the Alizay paper mill in the Eure region of France, which belonged to Thailand's Double A, has taken a step forward. The new owner of the site, the Belgian VPK Group, has signed a contract with the Finnish paper technology manufacturer Valmet to modify the existing paper machine to produce corrugated base paper (CBP) from recycled paper.
The conversion of the machine will be completed in the second half of 2022 and is scheduled to go into production at the end of 2022. The modified machine will have a production width of 8.80 m and a capacity of 450,000 tons of PPO from 70 to 135 g/m 2 per year.
The Alizay plant will recycle 650,000 tons of paper and cardboard collected in France, for the production of recycled packaging board for VPK and de-inked pulp for de-inked pulp producer Inova Pulp and Paper (IPP), a project partner.
With its 14 corrugators located in France, Belgium and the UK, VPK is the largest buyer of corrugated base paper. This conversion will allow the group to "to meet its internal needs, guarantee outlets for the paper produced in Alizay and strengthen the group's position" says the group, which employs 6,500 people in 70 sites in 20 countries.
A new on-site corrugator will be dedicated to the production of innovative packaging, specially designed for the needs of e-commerce distribution centers in France and Belgium. Production will start in the third quarter of 2022.
