PM10 dedication ceremony

Kruger officially dedicated Paper Machine No. 10 (PM10), which was completely rebuilt to manufacture 100% lightweight and high-strength linerboard at its Trois-Rivières Mill. Several dignitaries and project partners were present, including Luc Blanchette, Minister of Forests, Wildlife and Parks; Julie Boulet, Minister of Tourism and Minister responsible for the Mauricie region; Jean-Denis Girard, MNA for Trois-Rivières; and Gene Kruger, Vice President, Business Development, Kruger Inc.

State-of-the-art Technology

Kruger invested $250 million in this project to completely rebuild PM10 for optimal results. Well before work got under way, Kruger’s engineers toured numerous manufacturing plants in North America and Europe to find the best technology for manufacturing 100% recycled lightweight and high-strength linerboard of the best possible quality.

Commercialized as XTR, the new linerboard grades manufactured on PM10 meet increasing demand for ultra-light packaging without compromising on strength, performance or environmental footprint.

PM10’s annual production will total 360,000 metric tonnes of XTR linerboard, an exclusive product that Kruger Inc. is the first to manufacture in North America. A portion of the production will be used by Kruger’s packaging plants in LaSalle, QC, and Brampton, ON, while the remainder will be sold to packaging manufacturers across Canada and the United States.

Major Benefits for the Region

Announced jointly by Kruger and the Government of Québec in September 2015, this $250-million project required some 500,000 hours of work over a 20-month period that ended in the spring when the machine entered its start-up phase. The project also consolidated 270 jobs at the Trois-Rivières Mill, in addition to generating major benefits for the Mauricie region and Québec. More than 80 local businesses were involved in the project. Of the total budget, approximately $40 million were spent with local suppliers and $60 million with suppliers elsewhere in Québec.

Jean-Denis Girard, Member for Trois-Rivières; Luc Blanchette, Minister of Forests, Wildlife and Parks; Gene Kruger, Vice President, Business Development, Kruger Inc.; Julie Boulet, Minister responsible for the Mauricie region; and Michael Lafave, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Kruger Packaging

No. 10 Linerboard Machine	Kruger Trois-Rivières Mill employees and the PM10 machine
Nicolas Cloutier, General Manager, Kruger Trois-Rivières Mill; Benoît Painchaud, Containerboard Manager; Michael Lafave, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Kruger Packaging; Gino Lévesque, Vice President, Manufacturing, Kruger Packaging; and Christian Lemay, Manager Major Projects	Gene Kruger, Vice President, Business Development, Kruger Inc.