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Italy and the Environment: Italian Machinery Used For 100% Recycled Paper Production in the US

Pratt Industries (http://www.prattindustries.com) will begin production of eco-friendly paper / packaging with the opening of its state-of-the-art, 100% recycled paper machine in Shreveport, La., which will become a major producer of lightweight paper in North America.

The Shreveport mill, Pratt’s third paper machine in the United States, represents a $150 million investment in the future of the industry. It will specialize in 23-pound liners and mediums to meet market demand for less packaging and greater environmental responsibility.

At capacity, the Italian-made OVER Meccanica S.p.A. (http://www.over.it) machine will produce 360,000 tons of 100% recycled containerboard a year and employ 115 full-time associates.

The Shreveport facility represents Pratt’s vision of present and future packaging demands; allowing the company to utilize the most modern technology to manufacture advanced grade structures in lighter basis weights; often in both liner and medium specifications which have been unavailable until now.

In fact, the new machine will provide the most versatile range of lightweight, highperformance containerboard ever produced in North America.

Like Pratt’s sister mills in New York City and Conyers, Ga., Shreveport will recycle paper and old corrugated containers (OCC) that would have otherwise gone to landfill. Paper in landfills eventually breaks down and releases methane gas which is 21 times more harmful to the atmosphere than carbon dioxide.

Every year the three Pratt paper mills combined will recycle more than 1 million tons of paper – preventing approximately 1.2 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions and saving 17 million trees.

The Shreveport site, which sits on Louisiana’s Red River, is also home to the company’s new Material Recovery Facility, which employs another 25 full-time associates. Recyclables, including paper, plastic and glass, are collected from city homes and processed for re-use.