Spanish packaging firm SAICA Pack has announced it is to open what will be one of Europe’s largest paper mills at a site near Manchester.
The £290 million development, which is earmarked for a site in Trafford, will create over 200 jobs, providing a welcome boost for the UK manufacturing industry.
Construction on the site will start later this year with a view to being fully functional by 2012.
Once up and running the plant will produce around 400,000 tonnes of recycled paper a year, which will be used to manufacture recycled corrugated boxes.
The project has been welcomed by business secretary Lord Mandelson, who heralded the news as a win for the North West and the wider UK market. He said SAICA Pack’s commitment to the UK showed "confidence in our economic future".
"It is a long-term commitment in environmental technology, which will be central to the UK’s growth strategy," he added.
The announcement comes as the government initiates a nationwide recycling drive in a bid to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.
SAICA Pack already boasts 52 production sites across Europe with facilities in Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, the UK and Ireland.
The decision to invest in an additional UK plant is good news for the industry after figures released by the Office for National Statistics last week (January 13th) showed a slump in manufacturing output in 2009.
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