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Snowflake Mill was a pulp mill and paper mill located in the US town of Snowflake, Arizona. The mill had two paper machines which produced 339,000 tonnes of newsprint and uncoated fine paper. It sourced its fiber from two deinking pulp lines. The mill has 293 employees as of 2014. Transport to and from the mill was carried out on the Apache Railway. Founded in 1961, the mill was eventually owned by the Stone Container Corporation. Ownership passed to Abitibi-Consolidated in 1998 and then to Catalyst Paper in 2008. Due to increased recycled paper prices and a decline in the demand for newsprint, the mill was closed on 30 September 2012. ==History== The mill opened in 1961 as a four-machine, multi-product plant. The mill was bought by Stone Container Corporation who also secured ownership of the Apache Railway. Wastewater from the mill entered Dry Lake until 1996, as well as into Twin Lakes from 1985. A wastewater treatment plant was installed in 1992. During this period the mill received its pulp from the kraft process, a re-causticizing process and a chlorine-based bleaching process. Stone sold the mill and railway to Abitibi-Consolidated in 1998. Snowflake was an early user of deinkling pulp and was amongst the first in the US to accept single-source recycling materials. This moves some of the recycling work from the recyclers, thus cutting their costs, in exchange for a stronger market position and lower raw prices. However, Snowflake Mill was stuck with a raw product flow which contain contaminants, such as plastic and metals. Catalyst Paper bought the mill in 2008. Catalyst took steps to upgrade the mill, including investments to allow the plant to produce finer grades of paper. From 2008 the mill fell into a steadily more competitive environment. Prices of recycled fibers rose with increased demand from Chinese importers. Slack at quality controlling received papers at Chinese mills allowed for the export of a steadily more contaminated wastes, which again effected the quality and prices for Snowflake. This led to higher prices and lower quality for Snowflake Mill.〔 The price of old newsprint increased by 163 percent from 2009 to 2012.〔 Meanwhile the newsprint demand fell sharply following the Great Recession and the advent of increased online newspaper reading,〔 with demand for newsprint declining with about ten percent per annum from 2009 through 2012.The mill was therefore permanently closed on 30 September 2012, after having provided a negative EBIDTA every year since 2009.〔 Snowflake Mill was the sole large-scale recipient of waste paper in the Rocky Mountains Region. The closure had impacts on recycling companies throughout the region, who saw both reduced demand for waste paper—and hence low prices—as well as higher transport costs. Instead paper must be transported to the Pacific Northwest, Idaho or exported to Mexico or China via California. By 2012 there were higher demands for intake quality at all mills, with the lest contaminated paper waste being preferred by all recipients.〔 The assets comprising Snowflake Mill, including the Apache Railway, were sold to Hackman Capital for $13.46 million at an auction held on 17 December 2012. The two power plants were bought by Bob Worsley's Nova Power, costing $12 million. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Snowflake Mill」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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