Cascades Holds Groundbreaking for New Recycled Board Mill

The paper company Cascades Inc., based in Kingsey Falls, Que., recently held a groundbreaking ceremony in Niagara Falls, N.Y., for the construction of its newest recycled containerboard mill.

In a release, Cascades says the cost to build the Greenpac mill will be around $430 million. The company expects the mill to be operational by the middle of 2013. When fully operational, the mill will have an annual production capacity of 540,000 tons of 100 percent recycled content linerboard.

Greenpac is a new corporation created through the efforts of Cascades, the institutional fund management company Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Jamestown Container and Containerboard Partners.

The new mill is being built on property adjacent to an existing Norampac facility in Niagara Falls. The mill will include a single machine with a width of 328 inches, which, Cascades says, will make it one of the largest paper machines in North America.

Norampac, the sixth largest containerboard producer in North America, is a subsidiary of Cascades.

“Greenpac is the result of a close collaboration between Norampac and its partners, and its realization symbolizes the beginning of a new era for our company and our industry. Through Greenpac, Norampac will be able to offer high performance and innovative products, which will better respond to the growing demand for lightweight packaging” said Norampac’s Marc-Andre Dépin, president and CEO of Norampac, during the groundbreaking ceremony.

Alain Lemaire, president and CEO at Cascades, added, “Furthermore, this investment is consistent with our development strategy, which aims at positioning the company among the leaders in terms of productivity and profitability in the packaging and tissue sectors.”

To build the mill, Greenpac received $60 million in brownfield tax credits from the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Cascades also was granted $9 million in Empire Zone tax credits to help build the mill. In addition, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority provided a $3.7 million incentive through its Industrial and Process Efficiency Program to purchase and install energy efficient processes and support systems. Finally, 10 megawatts of low-cost power were been granted by New York Power Authority (NYPA).

(photo left to right: Ross Nelson: Containerboard Partners - Paul Dyster: Niagara Falls Mayor - Marc-André Dépin: Président et chef de la direction de Norampac - Sam Hoyt: Président Régional ESD - Joseph Palmeri: Jamestown Container - Alain Tremblay: Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec)