Metsä Tissue Makes Major Investment in the United Kingdom

Metsä Tissue, a Finnish tissue manufacturer and part of Metsä Group, will create more than 400 direct jobs with a total investment of several hundred million pounds over the next decade. Metsä Tissue announced that it has selected Goole, East Riding of Yorkshire for its planned state-of-the-art tissue paper mill in the United Kingdom. This significant investment, worth hundreds of millions of pounds, will establish the largest tissue paper mill in the UK and will substantially reduce the volume of tissue paper imported annually to the UK and Ireland. The new mill will create more than 400 jobs at the facility, and thousands of jobs across the supply chain and local economy. Metsä Tissue CEO Esa Kaikkonen said: "Goole is an excellent location for this proposed investment. The Humber region is a gateway to the whole of the UK, and the region's commitment to bringing the UK the latest green technology and employment aligns perfectly with our passion for clean and sustainable manufacturing." Currently, 45% of the company's tissue paper products are imported to the UK and Ireland. Metsä Tissue aims to replace nearly half of the imported products with local English production and to use fresh fibre pulp from sustainably managed forests in Scandinavia as the primary raw material. Reducing dependence on imports will have a positive impact on UK productivity, carbon footprint, and self-sufficiency in essential tissue paper products. The Goole facility will use the latest sustainable production technologies to deliver an efficient and modern facility with world-class environmental performance. Metsä Tissue's operations are built on sustainability foundations, and the company aims for all products to be made from completely fossil-free raw materials by 2030 as it works towards net zero society. Additionally, we aim for all of our mills, including the new Goole facility, to operate without fossil fuels by 2030. Subject to planning and environmental permits and final investment decision, the facility will cover approximately 200 hectares and will be built in several phases over the next decade with a production capacity of 240,000 tonnes of tissue paper serving both professional and consumer markets - an unmatched production level in England. The planned facility will be the first major investment in the proposed Goole tax zone within Humber Freeport, which aims to accelerate inward investment in the Humber region. Metsä Tissue CEO Esa Kaikkonen concluded: "We are delighted to announce our plans to invest in a world-class production facility in Goole. This exciting investment will bring together the UK and Finland by combining the sustainable raw material of fresh tree fibres grown in Scandinavia with first-class local production of quality tissues in the United Kingdom. We are excited about how these plans will contribute to more sustainable local tissue paper production in the UK and provide alternatives to tissue paper products currently imported. The project will significantly increase Metsä Tissue's presence in this country and underline the importance the English market holds for our business in the years to come." UK Investment Minister Lord Dominic Johnson said: "This investment is a vote of confidence for Goole, Yorkshire and Humberside. With hundreds of millions of pounds committed and thousands of jobs to be created both at the new facility and across the wider supply chain, this investment will bring significant benefits to workers and businesses in Goole and many communities across East Riding, Yorkshire, Humberside and North Lincolnshire. We know Yorkshire is one of the best places in the country to invest, and Metsä's announcement today further reinforces this. Just last year, we saw 103 new projects in Yorkshire, resulting in inward investment and collectively creating more than 7,000 jobs." Source