It has been reported on the website Recycling Today that Empire Recycled Fiber is relocating its recycled containerboard mill from Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania, to Dayton, Ohio, after securing a 700,000 sq ft building at a former manufacturing site.
Jim Austin, CEO, explained the decision to modify its strategy from a greenfield facility to an existing industrial building has substantially reduced the capital cost to execute the project and reduced the timeline for completion by approximately a year.
“We have identified an existing industrial building with all the necessary infrastructure to support process water, electricity, natural gas and WWTP capacity,” Austin says. “We are in the process of negotiating the necessary off-take sales contracts to support the financing requirements for the project.”
The project initially was announced in 2020 as a recycled pulp mill that was to produce 440,000 tons per year before the COVID-19 pandemic forced Empire to adjust its plans. The company, which is based in Springboro, Ohio, then turned its focus to developing a manufacturing facility that will produce approximately 350,000 tons per year of recycled containerboard while consuming 400,000 tons per year of OCC and mixed paper.
