New York City is close to signing an agreement to help Visy Paper build a boxboard plant next to its existing recycled paperboard mill facility on Staten Island.
Key to the deal is a commitment by the city to sell Visy more curbside paper recyclables, according to Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro.
Molinaro said that the company is looking for an additional 3-4 percent more recovered fiber from the city. "It's a win-win deal for us,"Molinaro said.
At the present time Visy takes in about 150,000 tons of recovered fiber from New York City a year. The mill manufactures recycled-content linerboard.
The plan by Visy would be to build a box converting operation adjacent to the paper mill. Molinaro said the size of the facility is around 100,000 square feet.
While the final decision has not yet been made, Molinaro feels the decision is pretty much of a done deal. The company, he adds, could break ground on the box plant within the next six to seven months.
When fully operational, the box plant is expected to employ between 75 and 100 workers.