Essity Opens £30 Million Recycled Fibre Facility at UK Tissue Manufacturing Site

Essity has opened a new recycled fibre processing facility at its Prudhoe manufacturing site in the UK following an investment of more than £30 million.

The new Unifibres facility expands recycled fibre processing capacity at the Prudhoe site to more than 105,000 tonnes per year and increases Essity’s total annual recycled fibre capacity in the UK to approximately 190,000 tonnes.

According to the company, the facility is designed to strengthen domestic fibre supply, support circular economy objectives and improve the resilience of its UK tissue manufacturing operations. Essity said the site is capable of processing a broader range of recovered paper grades, including lower-grade paper, helping extend the usable life of recovered materials.

The facility also includes systems intended to improve contaminant separation, including plastics removal, while reducing landfill waste and improving energy efficiency. The investment replaces older infrastructure with new processing technology aimed at reducing the environmental footprint of tissue production.

Prudhoe is Essity’s largest manufacturing site in the UK and forms part of the company’s European tissue production network. The company described the project as its largest capital investment in its UK operations in the past decade.

Essity stated that the opening of the facility reinforces its position as the UK’s largest user of recycled fibre in consumer tissue products and the leading user of recycled fibre for tissue production in Europe, based on publicly available 2024 industry data.

Martin Hallissey, Site Manager at Essity’s Prudhoe mill, said the investment strengthens the site’s recycled fibre sourcing capabilities while improving efficiency and reducing waste.

Volker Zöller, President of Consumer Tissue at Essity, said the project reflects the company’s focus on sustainability and circularity and supports customers’ sustainability objectives while expanding sustainable tissue production capacity.

The opening event included a visit from pupils at Prudhoe Castle First School, who participated in a paper recycling activity linked to the new facility.