Tiger Group Offers OCC Pulp Mill Packed with Late-Model Equipment

Tiger Group and Can-Am Machinery, Inc. are now entertaining offers for an old corrugated containers (OCC) fiber processing and recycled pulp production plant, along with a drying system capable of handling everything from sludge to renewable wood pellets.

The assets owned by Total Fiber Recovery @ Chesapeake are available turnkey, in bulk or piecemeal. They come from the company's 45,000-square-foot plant, which was outfitted to pulp, clean, screen and dry 100% post-consumer recycled fiber, delivering it as a kraft-wrapped bale.

Tiger Group and Can-Am Machinery's online auction features a TSI rotary drum dryer system that includes a premium Hauck burner and Clarage induced-draft fan.

The assets owned by Total Fiber Recovery @ Chesapeake come from the company's 45,000-square-foot plant, which was outfitted to pulp, clean, screen and dry 100% post-consumer recycled fiber, delivering it as a kraft-wrapped bale.

Dan Nigrosh, President and Founder of Fitchburg, Massachusetts-based Can-Am Machinery, noted that the receiver sale boasts pulping and baling technology by industry leader Kadant Black Clawson, with a high-utility drying system by respected manufacturer TSI. "This state-of-the-art, 600-tons-per-day OCC pulping, screening and drying system was just starting up in 2024 when lack of funding interrupted the company's operations," Nigrosh said.

"All of the equipment is from 2022 or later and was part of a project that would cost approximately $85 million to replicate today," added John Coelho, Senior Director, Tiger Commercial & Industrial. "Many of these systems have seen minimal operating hours, presenting a compelling opportunity for buyers across multiple industries."

Turnkey opportunity
The OCC pulp mill can output 200,000 metric tons of unbleached recycled pulp annually. It is strategically located near the Port of Norfolk, offering solid logistics for domestic feedstock and export. "We will have just a few months to locate a restart buyer and then look to sell the equipment in sections," Nigrosh said.

Highlights of the sale include:

Dryer system
The TSI rotary drum dryer system includes a premium Hauck burner and Clarage induced-draft fan. It is 16 feet by 70 feet with an airflow rate of 146,124 cubic feet per minute, reaching 500 degrees Fahrenheit. "This energy-efficient, stainless-steel system would cost millions of dollars to purchase new," Coelho said.

Wet side material handling and prep equipment

• Neilsen & Hiebert Systems pulper feed conveyor

• Automatic bale wire cutters

Wet side pulping equipment by Kadant

• 10DR hydrapulper

• Trash well (4,904 gallons) and wash tower (4,117 gallons)

• Hydrapurge II-X detrasher (1,148 cubic feet, 200 horsepower)

• Ragger and rag rope cutter

• Primary, secondary and tertiary coarse screens with float purge

• LC17 liquid cyclone HD cleaners (1,450 to 2,000 gallons per minute each)

Additional wet side pulping equipment
Bellmer Kufferath AKUPRESS AP 500 screw press (screw diameter: 500 millimeters) for coarse rejects, with GE motors and Goulds pumps throughout.

Wet side dewatering equipment

• Kadant cantilevered drum screens and slotted drum screens

• Kadant primary and secondary screw presses

• Gravity disc pre-thickeners

• Clarifier (11,500 gallon) with dissolution pipe and flocculant/coagulant skid

• Dump chest tank (182,000 gallons) and excess white water tank (114,000 gallons)

• White water tanks (10,000 gallons each)

• Kadant sand separator

• Transfer conveyors

• Process and chemical metering pumps

• Lube and seal water systems.

In addition to baling and packaging systems, the sale features a wide array of plant support and utilities assets, including generators, air compressors, an air dryer and a welder generator. A main distribution switchboard, various motor control centers, variable frequency drives, panel boards, transformers, conduit and wiring are also available.