Newsprint has for eighty years been produced at the mill near the village of Aylesford in southern England.
The mill was acquired by SCA in 1990 and, in 1993, SCA together with Mondi Europe invested GBP 300 million in a new recycling plant and, a high speed, modern newsprint machine. This investment increased the mill's capacity four and half times.
SCA Forest Products and Mondi Europe are equal owners of Aylesford Newsprint Ltd. Aylesford has demonstrated that recovered paper is a highly satisfactory raw material for newsprint production. However, paper cannot be recycled infinitely as fibres wear out by becoming smaller and losing their capacity to bind with other fibres to form a strong paper. It is not practical, financially viable or environmentally beneficial to collect all used paper and therefore, the industry needs a constant flow of fresh fibre from the forests to maintain the product quality.
Environment
The Aylesford mill has achieved extremely low levels of emissions to air and water as a result of a successful environmental program. The mill meets its own energy needs through a highly efficient natural-gas-fueled combined power and heat plant. Aylesford also plays an important role within the UK in reducing the amounts of waste deposited in landfill sites by increasing the proportion of production based on recovered raw materials.