TAPPI Plaque Recognizes Pratt Accomplishments at New Shreveport Mill

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In commemoration of the startup of its new containerboard mill in Shreveport, La., the first U.S. greenfield non-tissue mill this century, TAPPI recently presented a special plaque to Pratt Industries CEO Brian McPheely, at the company's USA headquarters in Conyers, Ga. The plaque features an article from TAPPI's October 2009 Paper360° magazine that details the achievement by Pratt's global team in bringing this outstanding project from vision to reality in just 15 months.

In presenting the plaque, Eric Fletty, TAPPI Vice President of Operations, noted that the $160 million Shreveport mill is significant in at least two other ways. First, it is part of the company's 2007 commitment to the Clinton Global Initiative to invest $1 billion during the next 10 years on recycling and clean energy technology. This includes three new mills in the U.S. (Shreveport being the first), four waste-to-energy plants (including the $50 million gasifier unit recently started up at Conyers), and 30 new Material Recycling Facilities (MFRs) and packaging plants (including the new MFR at Shreveport and recent ones in New York and Atlanta).

Second, Pratt's commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in this country and globally through expanded recycling and new energy technologies also represents a vital trust in the future of the U.S. and the pulp and paper industry here. "Pratt Industries' outlook and expansion plans are critical to both the health and survival of our industry in North America," Fletty said, "and on behalf of TAPPI members and the industry as a whole, we express our appreciation and support for Pratt's past, present, and future endeavors here and around the world."