More than 200 people including past and present employees, customers, suppliers, local residents and organisations all associated with the smurfit kappa ssk paper mill in nechells, joined together for this event. The event occurred on tuesday evening 22 may. Founded back in 1862 by three victorian entrepreneurs thomas bird smith, sir john benjamin stone and frederick knight, the smurfit kappa ssk paper mill now plays a vital role in providing local employment as well as reducing the city&rsquos carbon footprint, according to the firm. Around 40,000 tonnes of paper and cardboard, from birmingham residents, are taken to the ssk paper mill every year. This recovered paper and cardboard is then used by the mill as a raw material to make new packaging papers.
Local jobs sharon lea, strategic director for environment and culture, birmingham city council, warmly congratulated smurfit kappa ssk on reaching their 150th anniversary. She said &ldquobeing able to recycle birmingham paper and cardboard in birmingham whilst creating local jobs for birmingham people was a fantastic good news story for the city and that recycling continued to be a very important part of the council&rsquos strategy to further reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfill.&rdquo victorian era policemen on penny farthings and chimney sweeps on stilts greeted guests as they arrived, evoking a victorian era when the paper mill was first established, when deliveries were by horse and cart and old rags were used as the raw material for paper making. Additives controller, bipin parmar, who started working at the mill 37 years ago, said &ldquothe people down here were very friendly and made you very welcome and we all chipped in when there was trouble.
Everyone helped each other out and that is why we survived. The warmth of people was very important.&rdquo today smurfit kappa ssk employs 110 people and produces 500700 tonnes of packaging paper every day which is then converted into cardboard boxes by its customers. Trainee operative karol krupa said &ldquoi really enjoy working here. The job is really diverse. It is like a challenge for me because every day is different.
