Paper Recycling Facility to be Built at Carrington UK

photo : bloglemu.blogspot.com

The Spanish company Sociedad Anónima Industrias Celulosa Aragonesa (Saica) has announced it will spend £290million to build a new paper recycling facility in Carrington, near Manchester, UK.

Construction will begin later this year and the facility is due to start-up in  2012. The plant will produce 400,000 t/y of 100% recycled board for use in corrugated cardboard. The investment will include advanced effluent treatment works and a combined heat and power station.

Carrington is the site of the petrochemical complex, formerly operated by Shell Chemicals, which at its peak, employed some 3500 staff. The paper mill itself is located on the site of a former BP distribution terminal, located alongside the Manchester Ship Canal.

This is very good news for an area which has seen multiple chemical plant closures in recent years. LyondellBasell shut down an LDPE plant at Carrington at the end of 2009 and NOVA Innovene (now Ineos NOVA) shut down a PS plant at the end of 2006. As someone who worked at Carrington for many years, I'm delighted to see new investment in the area.

Lyondell Basell Announces Carrington LDPE Closure

photograph: LyondellBasell Lyondell Basell has today announced the closure of the Carrington LDPE Plant in Manchester, UK. A company spokesperson said that the plant was no longer economically viable, citing the current market environment, future projections for LDPE and the relatively small scale of the plant (185kT). The closure further magnifies the ethylene supply/demand imbalance in the UK, which now has a significant excess of ethylene. From a personal point of view, this is the plant where I started my career as a young engineer quite some years ago. Initially as an LDPE plant process engineer as subsequently as part of the design team for the 'newer' LDPE production line. Having seen it built and been a part of the commissioning team, I'm very sad to see it go.