New recycled paper making machine at Botany, NSW, will help Amcor boost its 34 percent market share against its rival’s 59 percent. Industry sources suggest some of the new mill’s 400,000 tonnes output will have to be for the export market.
The new machine is being lauded as the most sophisticated recycled paper making machine in Australasia by Nigel Garrard, managing director of Amcor Australasia and Packaging Distribution. “It produces high-quality 100 per cent recycled brown paper that is stronger, more consistent and has an improved colour for our customers," he said."This state-of-the-art recycled paper machine replaces three older machines aged between 43-52 years, reducing water consumption by 26 per cent, energy usage by 34 per cent and the amount of waste sent to landfill by 75 per cent," said Garrard.
Although the machine has been producing since last October, New South Wales Premier, Barry O’Farrell, officially commissioned the Botany machine on Monday. “"The NSW Government understands that a modern manufacturing industry is crucial to a strong economy. I thank Amcor for making this significant investment in manufacturing in NSW – the largest single capital investment in the company’s 144 year history," he said.
“The company says it plans to employ 150 highly skilled people at this new facility which is fantastic news for workers in the state’s manufacturing sector. That is on top of the 800 jobs which were created during construction at the facility.
The B9 paper machine, so named as it is the ninth paper machine to operate at the company’s Botany site, will produce more than 400,000 tonnes of paper annually when operating at full capacity.
The machine is 330 metres long, and 22 metres high and produces 1.6 kilometres of paper every minute. The paper comes off the machine in reels of weighing up to 47 tonnes, measuring 5.7 metres in diameter.
The Australian packaging market is dominated by Visy and Amcor with a combined market share in excess of 90 percent. The two companies were sued by more than 4,000 customers over a price fixing racket from the start of the past decade.
Graeme Hart’s New Zealand company, Carter Holt Harvey, is also a player in the Australian market with imports gaining a larger share due to the strength of the Australian dollar. According to Robert Eastment at Industry Edge, The packaging market is under growing pressure from the increasing popularity of international internet buying. Although there is plenty more waste packaging for recycling, more and more of it is coming from overseas.