Africa’s largest packaging manufacturer, Nampak, formally opened its R800-million expansion project at the group’s corrugated paper mill in Rosslyn, Pretoria. The opening was attended by a number of local dignitaries, including Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Gwen Ramokgopa, Nampak Chairman, Mr Tito Mboweni, and Executive Mayor of Tshwane, Mr Kgosientso Ramokgopa, who jointly cut the ribbon and officially opened the plant.
Built on a green field site adjacent to the existing paper mill, the new paper mill is one of Nampak’s largest capital projects to date. The objective of the expansion is to make the Nampak Corrugated business self-sufficient in terms of its supply of waste-based packaging grades of paper.
According to Nampak Corrugated’s Managing Director, Christiaan Burmeister, this higher level of vertical integration is consistent with international trends, as more and more corrugated players are producing their own paper requirements. Christiaan added that doing so offers multiple benefits, including improved supply chain management and lower raw material input costs.
In his opening speech, Christiaan added that with the upgrades to the existing Rosslyn infrastructure, Nampak Corrugated is committed to supplying world-class corrugated boxes to the industry, and will be pushing sustainability hard in this sector.
Christiaan said that at full capacity, the new paper mill will enable Nampak to process over 150 000 t of waste paper per annum, producing more than 140 000 t of paper for use in corrugated boxes and containers. “This enables us to not only put corrugated boxes back into the industry, but back into the economy,” he concluded.
Executive Mayor of Tshwane, Mr Kgosientso Ramokgopa, applauded the project, saying that it is one that will move Tshwane forward. He added that the new plant will not only drive sustainability, but is job absorbing too, as it creates direct employment at the site as well as jobs in the informal sector for those who collect the extra waste paper required by the new mill.
The Nampak Group is already a significant contributor to recycling in South Africa, and the new mill strengthens this position through increased capacity of waste-paper collection and recycling.