Waste Management Firm Signs Deal to Reprocess Rejected Material from UPM's U.K. Mill

UPM has announced that its Shotton paper mill, located in the United Kingdom, has signed a long-term deal with the waste management company PHS Special Contracts, part of PHS Wastetech, to reprocess the paper mill’s rejected materials.

The paper mill consumes 650,000 metric tons of recovered paper per year to produce recycled newsprint. The mill also combusts de-inking residues to make energy and re-uses ash from the combustion process.

With the most recent deal, waste from the company’s pulping process will be cleaned and reprocessed to make recycled plastic products. Other materials in the mill's rejected materials sent to PHS that are unable to be processed on site, such as tin and aluminum, will be sent to other recyclers.

"We are delighted to have found an innovative solution through PHS Allclear for this most difficult of waste materials. We are now really heading towards zero waste from the site," says Andrew Bronnert, UPM Shotton head of energy and utilities.

"We are proud to be able to offer this solution to UPM. The reject waste stream is the key to achieving zero waste to landfill for the recovered paper sector, and we are privileged to be in a position to offer a sustainable alternative to the industry," says Patrick Wadey, head of PHS special contracts.

In January 2010, UPM Shotton announced the construction of a material recovery facility (MRF) on site to separate mixed recyclables from curbside collectioned material and to recover paper suitable for newsprint manufacture.