Built on a green field site adjacent to its existing paper mill, the new paper mill, based in Rosslyn, is one of Nampak's largest capital projects to date, according to the firm.
According to the firm, the objective of the expansion is to make the Nampak Corrugated business self-sufficient in terms of its supply of waste-based packaging grades of paper.
Nampak Corrugated managing director Christiaan Burmeister said that "this higher level of vertical integration is consistent with international trends, as more and more corrugated players are producing their own paper requirements". Burmeister explained that doing so offers multiple benefits, including improved supply chain management and lower raw material input costs.
'World-class corrugated boxes'
In his opening speech, Christiaan said that with the upgrades to the existing Rosslyn infrastructure, "Nampak Corrugated is committed to supplying world-class corrugated boxes to the industry, and will be pushing sustainability hard in this sector".
Burmeister said that at full capacity, the new paper mill will enable Nampak to process over 150,000 tons of waste paper per annum, producing more than 140,000 tons of paper for use in corrugated boxes and containers. He said: "This enables us to not only put corrugated boxes back into the industry, but back into the economy."
Executive Mayor of Tshwane, Kgosientso Ramokgopa, applauded the project, saying that it is one that will move Tshwane forward. He added that the new plant will not only drive sustainability, but is job absorbing too, as it creates direct employment at the site as well as jobs in the informal sector for those who collect the extra waste paper required by the new mill.
In a statement, the firm said: "The Nampak Group is already a significant contributor to recycling in South Africa, and the new mill strengthens this position through increased capacity of waste-paper collection and recycling."
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