Graphic Packaging invests in coated recycled board machine

Packaging solutions provider Graphic Packaging Holding Co., Atlanta, has announced that its mill in Kalamazoo, Michigan, will be the location for the company’s new coated recycled board (CRB) machine. The company will invest $600 million in the project, and the machine is expected to have an annual capacity of about 500,000 tons, Graphic Packaging reports in a news release.

The CRB machine is designed to be the largest and lowest cost producer of CRB, or paperboard, in North America, and the company believes the machine will produce the highest quality coated recycled board product in North America with the lowest-caliper capabilities in the industry, Graphic Packaging reports. The company expects the investment will be capacity neutral by eliminating higher cost production at other facilities. 

In addition, the company expects this new machine will deliver an incremental $100 million in annualized earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) upon full ramp up in 2022, Graphic Packaging reports in a news release. The investment will be funded from cash flow and existing credit facilities with most of the spending occurring in 2020 and 2021.