Investment ties into company’s recycled-content containerboard capacity in the nation.

Ireland-based Smurfit Kappa Group plc (SKG) has announced it is investing $22 million to expand its corrugated plant in Culiacan, Mexico. The company says the project demonstrates its “continued commitment to the Mexican market with expanded capacity, capabilities and product offerings for local customers in the fresh produce segment.”

The investment will modernize and expand the plant, SKG says, via the installation of what it calls “high-tech state-of-the-art machinery” and the construction of a new 10,900-square-meter (117,000-square-foot) building that will include a new corrugator and an automated rotary die cutter (RDC) that will be fully operational by the end of 2021.

The facility will produce corrugated boxes made with a moisture barrier that helps resist condensation. “These new offerings will also result in more sustainable operations at the facility with [the] use of paper that is 100 percent recyclable and can be reused at SKG mills,” states the company.

In Mexico, SKG also operates the Los Reyes Paper Mill. SKG invested $62 million at that facility in 2017 to install a new recycled-fiber-fed paper machine at the mill, located north of Mexico City.

That production line, known as PM6, has a production capacity of 100,000 tons of recycled-content containerboard per year. At the time, SKG said PM6 would “facilitate greater integration within the group’s converting plants and significantly increase the energy efficiency of the Los Reyes plant.”

The downstream Culiacan investment is intended to “match the fast-growing demand for sustainable packaging solutions from agriculture and fresh produce customers,” SKG says. The region is home to 40 percent of the total agricultural production for Mexico and has some of the largest producers of packaged food and beverages, adds the firm.

“Our Culiacan plant has for a long time been a significant employer in the region, and this will continue to be the case with this new investment, with a need for new operational and administrative roles, and the workforce at the plant expanding to over 300 employees,” comments Jorge Angel, CEO of Smurfit Kappa Mexico.

Juan G. Castaneda, CEO of Smurfit Kappa The Americas, says, “This investment will enable us to meet the increasing demand for innovative and sustainable packaging solutions not only in the region but also across Mexico.”

The company wants to reduce plastic use and increase its use of sustainable packaging.

Chobani, New Berlin, New York, has announced the launch of a paper cup for its yogurt products. The paper cup is part of the company’s efforts to reduce plastic use and put more sustainable packaging on shelves across America.

The container will be used with the company’s single-serve oat yogurt products. Chobani’s paper cup is 80 percent paperboard, made from responsibly sourced and renewable material. The cup has a thin plastic lining to maintain the quality of the product.

“We all have a role to play in protecting our planet,” says Hamdi Ulukaya, Chobani founder and CEO. “People have been asking for a paper cup, and we welcome this challenge to start reducing our plastic use and to spark a conversation about how we can drive change together.”

The company says it will continue exploring more sustainable packaging across its portfolio that will use less plastic and more paper.

“While this paper cup is a step in the right direction, it’s just the beginning,” Ulukaya says.

Chobani says the paper cup will be available in stores at the end of 2022.

The company received $250,000 from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center through its InnovateMass program.

Nth Cycle, a metal processing and recycling technology company based in Boston, has been awarded a $250,000 grant by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) through its InnovateMass program. The grant money will go toward commercializing Nth Cycle’s clean and modular electro-extraction technology. 

“MassCEC is pleased to support the commercialization of technologies that empower a local economy for the energy transition,” says Steve Pike, CEO of MassCEC. “Critical minerals are an essential enabler of the renewable energy transition that is needed for the Commonwealth to achieve its climate goals.”

According to a news release from Nth Cycle, the technology can salvage critical minerals from several e-scrap and low-grade mine tailings for use in new lithium-ion battery production in the U.S.

“We’re thankful for the faith MassCEC has shown in us, and it comes at an important time,” says Megan O’Connor, CEO of Nth Cycle. “The clean energy technologies that are so important for our future—electric vehicles, wind turbines and grid energy storage—are built on a foundation of critical metals extracted overseas at a great monetary and environmental cost. We’re committed to enabling a low impact, streamlined supply of these minerals to speed the clean energy transition in North America. This grant will help us bring Nth Cycle’s technology solution to scale even faster.” 

Nth Cycle says its modular electro-extraction technology is used by battery recyclers and miners as an alternative or enhancement to older processing technologies. Nth Cycle’s technology transforms the outputs of electronics recycling, untapped mining resources and waste from existing mines into high-purity critical minerals ready to be used in new products without polluting furnaces or harsh chemical waste.

The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center is dedicated to accelerating the success of clean energy technologies, companies and projects in the state. InnovateMass is specifically designed to provide targeted, strategic support to companies deploying new clean energy technologies with a strong potential for commercialization.

“Recycling Today” is compiling information on the largest MRFs in North America, and we need your help.

In our November 2021 issue, Recycling Today will present a map and list of the largest material recovery facilities (MRFs) in North America, but we need your help to ensure we have the most accurate data on which to base our rankings.   

If you feel that one or more of your company's MRFs belongs on the list, we ask that you please take a moment to provide your information before Oct. 8, 2021. Please fill out one form, available at www.RecyclingToday.com/form/2021-mrf-list-form, for each of the MRFs your company operates. The information you provide will help our editors ensure the accuracy of our list; otherwise, we will use estimates that we calculate with the help of industry sources.  

Key figures we are asking for are the annual total amount of outbound tons at your company’s facility as well as the total annual amount of gross tons of fiber shipped, as this will help us determine the largest MRFs that will be placed on the map and list. 

A conclusive, estimated or calculated figure for 2020 is preferred. If a 2021 estimate for newer or recently upgraded facilities is provided, please let us know and we will note it as such on the list.

To access the form, visit https://www.recyclingtoday.com/form/2021-mrf-list-form/.

Carsten Larsen was former circularity director with Dow.

Tigard, Oregon-based Agilyx Corp. has announced Carsten Larsen has been appointed chief commercial officer and senior vice president of business development for the company, effective Sept.1. Larsen replaces Bill Cooper who has joined Cyclyx LLC as its senior vice president of strategic relationships.

Larsen will be responsible for driving global growth through the acquisition of customers, initiation and development of projects, Agilyx says. “He will work with business partners to expand and accelerate the roll out of Agilyx chemical recycling solutions to address the challenge of post-use plastic globally,” the company states.

Larsen has more than 25 years of industrial sector experience, most recently having served as commercial director of plastics circularity for Europe, Middle East Africa and Asia Pacific for Dow Inc. In that role, he was responsible for plastic sustainability strategy development and implementation, says Agilyx.

“I would like to welcome Carsten to Agilyx at this exciting time in our development,” says Agilyx CEO Tim Stedman. “His breadth of knowledge, experience and relationships will be enormously beneficial to the company as we further strengthen our global reach.”

Agilyx describes itself  a leader in the advanced recycling of difficult-to-recycle plastic scrap. The company says via its chemical recycling technology, mixed plastic scrap including polystyrene, can be converted to new virgin-equivalent plastics, as well as chemical products and fuels.