The £290M cutting edge facility, to be built by Spanish paper and packaging group SAICA, should help divert the export of some 450,000 tonnes of recovered paper by using it in the UK. In addition, the firm hopes the facility will reduce the amount of containerboard imported into the UK. SAICA Group president Eduardo Aragues said: “This huge investment, in the current economic climate, is the best message SAICA can send to its UK customers, to whom we are fully devoted and with which we are establishing a long term partnership.” The firm, which owns International Paper’s packaging firm, will collect most of its raw materials from the North and the Midlands to be manufactured into recycled corrugated boxes. The new mill brings SAICA’s planned and committed investment in the UK to over £470 million since 2007. UK Trade & Investment, the government’s international business development agency, worked closely with the Northwest Regional Development Agency and Trafford Council to help SAICA with all stages of the investment process. NWDA Chief Executive, Steven Broomhead said: “It is a great start to 2010 with one of the world’s most advanced recycled paper mills being built here in the North West, creating over 200 jobs. The NWDA along with our partners have helped to bring this investment to the region and the Agency is in the final stages of supporting this investment with funding for SAICA towards land remediation. We will continue to work with the company as they commence construction in the coming months.” The firm’s proposed cutting edge paper machine 11 will operate at speeds of 1,500 metres per minute, producing enough paper to cover the distance from its location at Partingdon Wharfside to London in three-and-a-half hours (196 miles). It is hoped the facility will produce top quality, high performance and light weight containerboard Construction on the project is expected to begin soon, with the mill starting up in February 2012. State-of-the-art equipment will be used at the facility and a combined heat and power plant will generate energy for it.