Displaying items by tag: Pratt Industries

Our 100 percent recycled paper mill and adjacent box plant in Valparaiso, Indiana received a visit from Indiana’s Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch this week. Then Indiana Governor Mike Pence officially opened the mill in 2016 with a ceremonial ribbon cutting.

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The mill at capacity produces 500,000 tons of the industry’s best 100% recycled paper and supplies our rapidly expanding Midwest box-making operations. As part of Crouch’s mission statement to, “Strengthen Indiana’s rural economies and communities through capacity building, advocacy and innovation in agriculture, small business, tourism, defense development, housing, and community economic development,” she is committed to supporting growing organizations, like Pratt Industries, within her state. With 500 happy employees working at the Valparaiso campus, Pratt fulfilled its original promise to create more jobs with the addition of the new paper mill.

With an emphasis on the importance of the need for cleaner recycled paper, site leaders Paul England and Jay Hennessey did a great job incorporating a strong message of sustainability into the tour, showcasing Pratt’s commitment to the environment.

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Pratt Industries has been America’s leading recycled paper and packaging company for over 25 years – dedicated to the sustainability of our planet, our customers and our people, and is recognized around the world for its environmental stewardship. This cornerstone of sustainability on which Pratt Industries, USA is based began with our Australian sister company Visy. From its inception, Visy steadily built its customer base by establishing a reputation for strong customer service, competitive prices and innovation. These were the key pillars that guaranteed a sustainable foundation from which the Visy business could expand.

In the late 70’s and early 80’s, Visy opened its first paper recycling mills. It was an investment that not only recognized the need to use resources more sustainably, but also put Visy at the forefront of the recycling movement.

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In the 1990’s, Visy began acquiring box plants and building a paper recycling mill in the United States. This led to Pratt Industries USA and a paper recycling contract with the City of New York in 1995, making them responsible for recycling 150,000 tonnes of the city’s waste paper every year. Our focus is on reclaiming fiber through recycling OCC (Old Corrugated Containers) and Mixed Paper and converting that discarded fiber into 100 percent recycled packaging, thereby reducing our impact and our customer’s impact on the environment. Landfill avoidance and minimizing the amount of useable fiber that goes to the landfill is essential for environmental stewardship – whether that is reusing discarded paper or gasifying materials that are otherwise destined for the landfill in our clean energy plant.

Pratt Industries, which was born into a family heritage of sustainability and sustainable packaging, remains at the forefront of these sustainability efforts to this day due to a long record of engineering the best containerboard machines to meet the precise packaging needs for a wide range of markets. Our corrugated packaging is proudly made from post-consumer recycled fiber and most lines are completely recyclable. We use the most modern technology to manufacture advanced containerboard grade structures which had often been previously unavailable, using less material to create packaging that is equal or better than anything in the marketplace. Our commitment to lightweight packaging is resonating as an expanding customer base seeks to optimize its packaging needs. We continually strive to reduce paper weights to eliminate costly over-packaging as well as reduce the environmental impact.

As the 5th Largest Corrugated Packaging Company in the USA and the world’s largest, privately-held 100% recycled paper and packaging company, our series of corrugating facilities strategically placed throughout the United States and Mexico continue to fulfill Pratt’s mission to be the best vertically-integrated paper, packaging and resource recovery company in the western hemisphere.

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Pratt Industries officially opened its fourth, 100 percent recycled paper mill in Valparaiso, Indiana, last week with a gala luncheon attended by more than 300 guests including Indiana Govenor Mike Pence.

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Our company has now built three of the last 4 paper mills constructed in the U.S., which is an amazing achievement!

The new mill, which will produce 500,000 tons of the industry’s best recycled paper at capacity,  will supply our rapidly-best expanding Midwest box-making operations.

“This is the most environmentally friendly and modern containerboard mill in the world,” said company chairman Anthony Pratt. “We’re proud that we are the only major paper company that produces only 100 percent recycled paper and these days this is very important to our customers. In doing so we save 68,000 trees a day or enough to cover 120 football fields.

“What’s also important to our customers is cost effective packaging and this technologically advanced mill will produce lightweight papers that produce boxes that work at lower cost.”

But even more important than that, he said, was that the mill created more than 100 new jobs, bringing the company total nationwide to 5800.Governor Mike Pence, who officially opened the mill with a ceremonial ribbon cutting, said: “I applaud Pratt for investing in Indiana’s future and creating quality jobs for Hoosiers for generations to come.”

He also hailed Anthony as “a man of your word…thank you for believing in Indiana.”

The mill, located 50 miles southeast of Chicago, is on the same site as Pratt’s corrugated box plant, the world’s largest.

Before the official program began guests were given tours of the mill and the adjoining box factory and a sit down lunch.

Valpariaso major Jon Costas said after touring the site: “One thing is for sure, the next time an Amazon box shows up on my doorstep, I’m probably going to be more amazed at the box than what’s inside the box.”

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Tuesday, 20 October 2015 09:11

New Pratt Mill Starts Production

Pratt Industries has announced its new $260 million recycled paper mill had started production in Valparaiso, In.

Pratt, which has now built three of the last 4 paper mills constructed in the U.S., said the new 100 percent recycled facility would supply the company’s rapidly-expanding Midwest operations. In just two years, company chairman Anthony Pratt said Pratt had invested more than $400 million in the U.S.

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“This is a great day for Pratt Industries,” he said. “This mill represents the single biggest investment we’ve ever made in the U.S.”

Pratt said the new mill would also increase the company’s annual revenues from approximately $2.1 billion to approaching $2.5 billion.

“This puts us in a very strong position to exceed our medium range target of $3.5 billion in sales ahead of schedule,” he said.

Pratt said America’s low energy costs and inherent entrepreneurial spirit had given rise to a new wave of manufacturing growth, especially in the Midwest where he says industry is booming and jobs are coming back from China and elsewhere.

“We’re riding that wave,” he said.

pratt logoThe mill, located 50 miles southeast of Chicago is on the same site as Pratt’s corrugated box plant, the world’s largest. It will supply that facility as well the company’s other box-making sites throughout the region with recycled paper.

Pratt said it would be the industry’s most efficient paper mill, employing 120 people to make 370,000 tons a year – twice the productivity of many competitor mills.

“It is the world’s most environmentally-friendly paper mill and a showcase for the latest in 21st Century paper-making technology,” he said.

At capacity, the mill will save some 20,000 trees and divert up to 3500 cubic yards of paper from landfills every day and annually prevent more than 700,000 gross tons of co2 emissions through landfill avoidance.

It was also designed to use even less water, electricity and natural gas than its three sister mills in Georgia, New York and Louisiana.

“That’s important not only for our environment but also for our customers who realize the importance of sustainable packaging,” said Pratt.”Our environmental message is clearly resonating throughout the country which is why our sales and profits continue to hit record levels.”

He said the company would open a new $50 million corrugated box plant in Beloit, Wisconsin in just a few weeks.

Pratt Industries now has some 130 facilities in the U.S. and is currently the 5th largest corrugated packaging company in the U.S.

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Friday, 04 September 2015 07:07

Conyers Mill Celebrates 20 Years

More than 200 employees and guests celebrated the 20th anniversay of Pratt’s Conyers paper mill with a gala dinner in Atlanta last month.

Company COO David Dennis paid special tribute to mill GM Allen Bowlder and other 20-year veterans who were part of a weary group of pioneerng engineers, operators and maintenance crews there at start-up.

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“To everyone who makes the Conyers mill the pride not only of our company but of the entire containerboard industry, I sincerely congratulate and thank you all for the dedication, hard work and long hours you’ve put in,” David said.

Since it began operations, the mill has produced approximately 6,740,000 tons of 100% recycled paper – that’s the equivalent of saving more than 113 MILLION trees – or a forest large enough to cover 115 square miles – or about 5 times the size Manhattan.

And it would literally leave a paper trail that could stretch from the Earth to the Moon and back 11 times.

In a video-taped message, company chairman Anthony Pratt, who was in Australia on business, told the audience: “I wanted to take this opportunity to thank Alan and his team for a job well done. The genesis of the mill is that we decided to put it hard up against our corrugator, thereby becoming America’s first millugator. Conyers broke the mold. It was a revolutionary mill.”

Global CEO Brian McPheely also sent a video message, saying: “I was lucky enough to be at the mill opening 20 years ago. It’s just amazing what the mill has accomplished over the last 20 years. Alan and his people have done a fantastic job.”

Along the way, they have put up some pretty impressive numbers…

  • In December 2010, the mill produced an average of 1102.3 per day, the first Pratt mill to reach this mark
  • In October 2013, it outdid itself by setting a new production record, averaging 1116.1 tons a day
  • And most importantly, in June 2014, it reached 1 million man hours worked with no lost time injuries – a magnificent safety record that continues to this day

But it hasn’t always been easy…and the team has faced some pretty daunting challenges over the years including three fires and a tornado that knocked down a wall and damaged several pumps and piping systems. But even the worst of those events – a fire in 2010 – couldn’t keep the Conyers’ team down for long. In fact the mill was up and running again just 72 hours later.

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