UK paper-based industry celebrated at House of Commons

More than 100 representatives from the UK’s paperbased industries gathered in March on the House of Commons Terrace to celebrate their achievements.

The Paper Industry Gold Awards 2023 was hosted by Mark Pawsey MP, who chairs the APPG on Packaging, and attended by a number of Parliamentarians from across the chamber, including shadow cabinet members and constituency Members of Parliament.

The awards recognised success in five categories: Recycling,

Sustainable Innovation, Community Engagement, Health and Safety, and Skills. The six winners, with two winners in the Sustainable Innovation Category, were each recognised with a glass trophy.

Winners were: Recycling Award – VPK UK and Ireland; Sustainable Innovation Award – (winners) Swanline Group (EzeE-comm pack) and DS Smith; (highly commended) Fourstones Paper Mill; Community

Engagement Award – Smurfit Kappa Inspirepac, Chesterfield; Health and Safety Award – Saica Group; and Skills Award – Essity UK Ltd.

Andrew Large, director general of the Confederation of Paper Industries, said: “The awards showed that the industry has a lot to be proud of, and there are many remarkable individuals and businesses which do excellent work. I was extremely impressed by the number and quality of applications, and we were delighted to showcase this to senior politicians and stakeholders.”

The sale by Stora Enso of its newsprint mill at Hylte in Sweden to Sweden Timber, a sawmill and planing mill, was completed in April.

The €18 million deal had been announced at the end of January, and results in Stora Enso’s annual sales of €2.86 billion being reduced by €160m, or 5.5 per cent.

The transaction, part of the

Mondi is investing in its FunctionalBarrier Paper capacity to meet growing demand for sustainable paper-based packaging.

Mondi’s range is said to offer earlier announced plan to divest four of Stora Enso’s five paper production sites, does not affect Stora Enso’s formed fibre and biocomposite operations located at the Hylte site.

Sweden Timber is operating the Hylte paper mill, which dates from 1907, as a separate entity. It was extensively modernised and automated in the 1990s.

In a statement on its website the company said: “Today we have a paper machine in operation and have approximately 270 employees. This makes Hylte Bruk one of the largest private employers in Halland County. With its capacity of 245,000 tonnes, it remains one of the world’s largest newsprint mills and will continue to do so going forward!”

Stora Enso said the sale was in line with its strategic focus on long-term growth potential