Smurfit Kappa has announced a €6 million green energy investment at its Sanguesa paper mill in Spain.
The investment will be used to construct and install up to 12,000 solar panels on land adjacent to the mill. Smurfit Kappa claims the solar panels will reduce CO2 emissions by over 3,200 tonnes annually and provide significant cost savings.
The packaging firm has launched similar initiatives in other plants in Spain, Colombia and Mexico to generate sustainable energy.
Construction on the solar panels in Spain is expected to be completed by the end of this summer.
Solar Panels
Once operational, it is estimated that the panels will generate more than 10 GWh of power annually which will reduce the current external electricity consumption and dependency by 7%.
"The solar panels will enable us to generate sustainable energy, reduce our overall external energy consumption and reduce our CO2 emissions," said Pedro Mendarozketa, general manager of Smurfit Kappa Sanguesa.
"We look forward to officially unveiling the solar panels later this year.”
Environmental Change At A Practical Level
Smurfit Kappa asserts that the mill at Sanguesa is one of Smurfit Kappa’s key facilities that produces light MG kraft paper, a packaging solution widely used across industrial and consumer markets in products such as grocery bags and wrapping paper.
Its customer base includes some of Europe’s largest brands.
"This investment to harness another renewable source of energy is testament to Smurfit Kappa’s commitment to sustainability and our desire to make real environmental change at a practical level," said Reinhard Reiter, CEO of Smurfit Kappa’s virgin fibre cluster.
"Through collaboration and hard work, together we can make every aspect of our operations as sustainable as possible in our journey towards net zero."
© 2023 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest packaging news. Article by Robert McHugh. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
