Plans for £600m Welsh paper mill revamp go to consultation

A Turkish firm is pushing ahead with plans to revamp a 148-acre paper mill in Flintshire, Wales.

Eren Holding is consulting on the renovation job at Shotton Mill (pictured), which it says would make it the biggest paper mill in the UK.

The Turkish conglomerate said it would invest £600m in the site, which would produce 750,000 tonnes of containerboard every year and 210,000 tonnes of tissue. The containerboard will be produced entirely from recycled paper.

Some of the older buildings are set to be demolished, but Eren said it would retain most of the existing complex.

Eren also said it would add 600 jobs to the 190 people already working there. It bought the site from Finnish company UPM in May 2021.

Three planning applications will be submitted, with two going to Flintshire County Council. The third, which will be for a new combined heat and power facility, is regarded as an important development of national significance and so will be considered by the Welsh Government instead.

If approved, the heat and power facility would provide the mill with up to 60 megawatts of self-sufficient power.

Shotton Mill currently produces newsprint paper, but a reduction in demand for newspapers led to the number of workers falling from 550 to the current 190.

Eren said that its development plan would “close the gap” between UK production of containerboard and tissue and the demand for the materials. Currently, the UK is a net importer of both products.

“By switching production from the declining newsprint market to containerboard and tissue products, the new production facility will allow the UK as a whole to be more self-supporting in these materials, reducing reliance on external supply,” the company said.