Paper mill on Vancouver Island set to restart operations in January bringing back local jobs

A paper mill on Vancouver Island has announced that it will be restarting specific operations at its Catalyst Paper Mill in Crofton in January, bringing back local jobs.

Paper Excellence Canada revealed the news on Tuesday that it plans on restarting the ‘number 3 paper machine’ early on in 2021 as a reflection of the company’s “strong performance.”

Paper Excellence Canada is tipping its hat to the Catalyst Paper Mill’s sales force and paper operations team for the current performance for making “both existing printing and writing grades with new food and packaging papers.”

According to a press release, the number 3 paper machine was curtailed earlier this year after the impacts of an external malware cyberattack, a forest fibre shortage, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Paper Excellence Canada also notes that diminished paper production from a reduced global paper demand due to the coronavirus played a factor as well.

With the restart of the paper machine, Paper Excellence Canada says that approximately 58 local jobs will be returned at the Crofton facility.

This will bring the total employee number at the Catalyst Paper Mill to about 560, starting in the new year.

The Canadian paper group says that Crofton is one of Canada’s largest pulp and paper mills, responsible for injecting nearly $3 million into B.C.’s economy on a daily basis.

“We’re very excited to return to full production at Crofton,” said Patrick Corriveau, vice-president of paper and packaging at Paper Excellence.

“We’re one of only a few companies that’s actually resuming paper production so it’s a testament to the hard work of our salespeople and the quality of our products and papermakers.”

Paper Excellence’s Catalyst Crofton mill manufactures both pulp and paper products.

The company says that it is continuing to work on the production of new food and packaging papers while remaining committed to its traditional printing and writing grade customers.

In Crofton, the mill uses 87 per cent renewable energy and has reduced its carbon emissions by 71 per cent since 1990, according to the release.

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