Today's takeover represents Progroup's first milestone in creating its new circular economy site in Stockstadt. The current plan is for a state-of-the-art plant for sustainable production of containerboard to be operating by the end of the decade, creating roughly 200 jobs.
The selective dismantling of the Sappi plant will begin shortly and this work is expected to be completed by the end of 2026. At the heart of the plant will be one of the world’s most modern and high-performance paper machines for manufacturing environmentally friendly, high-quality containerboard. The new paper machine is designed to operate in a sustainable and energy-efficient way for the next 50 to 60 years. Progroup will only ever use recovered paper as the raw material.
Expansion to create a zero-waste site
There are also plans to expand the paper mill in the future by adding a state-of-the-art waste-to-energy plant. This is where waste materials that are produced in the paper mill and in other recycling processes in the region will be converted into energy, providing the mill with the power and process heat it requires. This will enable Progroup to avoid tens of thousands of tonnes of CO₂ every year, make sustainable use of materials from recycling processes and at the same time meet the high emissions protection standards.
Progroup AG, based in Landau, Germany, is one of the leading manufacturers of containerboard and corrugated board in Europe. Since it was founded in 1991 in Offenbach/Queich, the company has been pursuing a consistent growth strategy which, in addition to technological leadership, is also based on the use of innovative and environmentally friendly production technologies. Progroup operates production sites in six countries in Central Europe.