Green packaging manufacturer Cascades Inc. announced it will shut down its tissue facility at St. Helens, Oregon effective the beginning of October
The company said the decision follows its announcement repositioning of its tissue papers production platform to improve business performance. That move closed one of the two paper machines at the St. Helens plant. Today’s announcement continues to simplify the company’s operations by concentrating the majority of its tissue product operations at sites that offer future development opportunities.
“Over the past few months, market conditions on the West Coast and a significant decline in demand in this region for brown recycled products specifically manufactured at the facility have compromised the long-term financial viability of the plant. Consequently, we made the decision to end the plant’s operations,” said the President and Chief Operating Officer of Cascades Tissue Group, Jean-David Tardif.
According to the company, the tissue machine has an annual capacity of 50,000 short tone of brown 100 percent recycled tissue. The closure of the plant will have no impact on the company’s other operations, officials said because those tons are not integrated into the Cascades network.
The company said it will work with the 75 employees affected by the closure and will try to relocate those who wish to relocate to other business units in the U.S. Founding in 1964, Cascades employs over 10,000 people across a network of nearly 80 facilities across the country.