Under the supervision of AMG Engineering Services, construction is beginning on the new Omya Region Americas Precipitated Calcium Carbonate plant in Escanaba, Michigan. The plant is being constructed on the site of the NewPage paper mill and mark’s the beginning of a long term commitment between Omya and NewPage. In a recent article, technology blog GadgetsMadeSimple.com takes a look at the new partnership and what it means for American industry and Michigan’s local economy. The site reports estimates from NewPage and Omya that the new plant will create seven new jobs in Escanaba.
“We really love what we’re seeing,” said Dan Lewis, an editor at GadgetsMadeSimple.com, “Too many jobs in America revolve around service positions in restaurants and retail, that’s one of the points that we covered in the article. We think it’s important to create more technical jobs in America, instead of importing industrial materials from China and South America”.
The article noted that NewPage currently uses a different supplier for Precipitated Calcium Carbonate and decided to partner with Omya to create an on-site plant in an effort to save on costs incurred from shipping the industrial mineral. According to GadgetsMadeSimple.com, Precipitated Calcium Carbonate is a vital component in paper, responsible for adding bulk, opacity, brightness and whiteness to the finished product.
GadgetsMadeSimple.com also pointed out the environmental impact of the new plant. One of the anticipated benefits of building a PCC plant on the same site as the paper mill is that carbon dioxide produced by the mill can be used by the PCC plant. Currently, the mill releases carbon dioxide into the air as a waste product, but after the new plant’s construction, the mill’s carbon dioxide waste will be re-used to produce Precipitated Calcium Carbonate.
“The environmental aspect of this project is important to us too,” said Dan Lewis, “We expect that AMG services is will do a fine job when it comes to constructing the plant in an environmentally responsible way, and once the plant is up and running we are really excited to see how well it actually re-uses the paper mill’s waste carbon dioxide.”
Editors of GadgetsMadeSimple.com indicate that they expect to publish follow-up articles that will go into more details about the paper making process and the production of Precipitated Calcium Carbonate.