Paper-based packaging manufacturer Smurfit Westrock has announced that it will invest 600 million euros in France over the next three to five years. The program involves modernizing its industrial sites and further decarbonizing its activities.
For the Irish-American group, which employs over 6,000,000 people at 50 sites, France is one of its main European industrial hubs.
Smurfit Westrock has already invested over 500 million euros in its French operations over the past five years to modernize its facilities and expand production capacity.
Today, the Group operates four carbon-neutral plants in France, as well as a paper mill that is almost entirely carbon-free.
Épernay and Rethel among the sites concerned
Among the projects already identified is the Épernay site in the Marne region, which is to benefit from a ?40 million expansion and modernization project.
In Rethel, in the Ardennes, the manufacturer is also planning a 20 million euro investment to further develop its corrugated board plant.
Andrew Coffey, Managing Director of Smurfit Westrock France, sees the environmental performance of production sites as a logical extension of paper-based packaging manufacturing. "Achieving carbon neutrality at these sites was a major milestone that provides us with an excellent foundation to go even further. That's why strategic investments in key sites are essential to maintain this momentum."
