New Recycling Opportunities for Waste from Paper

Severnside Recycling (UK), a leading recycling and waste management company, has joined forces with Envar, an innovative resource management organisation, to develop alternative outlets for waste produced during the paper making process. Severnside and its parent company, DS Smith Plc, which includes St Regis, have a no-landfill ethos, so finding new uses for waste such as paper sludge is vital in supporting their own environmental objectives.

Envar specialises in the recycling of organic wastes. This partnership will see de-inked paper sludge from St Regis’ Hollins Mill in Darwen, Blackburn, being used for a range of applications including animal bedding, land restoration and agricultural fertiliser.

“De-inked paper sludge offers a number of different recycling options,” said Andrew Urquhart, development director, at Envar. “The paper crumb from the mills is ideal as a bedding product as it has low moisture content and no odour, offering farmers a cost-effective and sustainable alternative to intensively farmed hay and straw. Furthermore, paper sludge contains excellent organic matter, provides plant nutrients and can be used in restoration projects as an ingredient in manufactured soil helping to grow new trees and providing a complete closed loop when the trees are harvested to produce paper.”

“We’re delighted to be working with Severnside to deliver innovative and sustainable uses for the waste from DS Smith Plc’s manufacturing processes, helping to meet the company’s objectives for sustainable waste management,” Urquhart adds.

Envar will handle around 26,000 tonnes of paper sludge from Hollins Mill. Not only does Envar find new uses for organic wastes, it also focuses on using the materials locally, reducing road miles, carbon emissions and helping local communities be more sustainable.

Mathew Prosser, commercial director for Severnside, comments: “Envar is able to offer some interesting solutions which are seeing the waste from our companies’ mills being put to excellent reuse. With our own clients, we pride ourselves on developing innovative solutions to avoid landfill, so working with Envar means that we can ensure that our own waste practices are just as sustainable.”

Before working with Envar, the waste from the Hollins Mill was spread on farm land as an organic fertiliser, but the partnership with Envar means that the waste can go to a wider range of uses. The paper sludge from St Regis and DS Smith’s other mills continues to be used on local farm land.