Community – Page 2 – Graphic Packaging International

March 7, 2022

Work Underway Along the Kalamazoo River

With spring near, you may now notice cleanup work underway in and along the banks of the Kalamazoo River. Graphic Packaging is pleased to see this U.S. EPA-directed cleanup is being done for the community as it is part of a larger cleanup of the Kalamazoo River. Part of the work now underway is occurring near our operations. The cleanup work is not related to Graphic Packaging or our Kalamazoo operations.

The EPA is overseeing the removal of PCB-contaminated sediment within Verburg Park Pond and along the banks of the Kalamazoo River. This work is part of a larger cleanup of a section of the Kalamazoo River EPA has designated as Area 1. Cleanup activities are being conducted by Georgia-Pacific LLC and International Paper Company. We understand the cleanup activities starting in March are expected to take three years to complete.

For more details, read EPA FACT SHEET – WORK BEGINS AT VERBURG PARK, PARK AND TRAIL CLOSURES (2 pp, 345.9 KB, About PDF) or visit www.epa.gov/superfund/allied-paper-kalamazoo.

February 22, 2022

With Construction of K2 Project Complete, Graphic Packaging Turns Attention to Campus Improvements

Here at Graphic Packaging, we have been hard at work in Kalamazoo for nearly two years constructing a new $600 million paper machine that expands our processing capacity and ensures job security for our local employees for years to come.

Today, we are thrilled to say that construction was largely completed at the end of 2021 and our new machine, which we refer to as K2, is now producing paperboard. Once it is operating at full capacity, the new four-story machine will produce more than 1,400 tons per day of the highest-quality recycled paperboard in the industry. Here is what it looks like inside:

The new, four-story, coated recycled paperboard machine, or K2, in Kalamazoo

February 15, 2022

Graphic Packaging kicks off community benefits agreement conversations with city’s steering committee

Last year, we were happy to join the City of Kalamazoo and members of the community as a steering committee was formed to develop a community benefits agreement (CBA). Although our participation in any project is voluntary, we view the CBA as a positive collaboration between the community and Graphic Packaging.

Since then, Graphic Packaging has met with the committee three times and will meet again soon as we continue to discuss possible future programs and projects that would benefit the city and the communities, where our operations are located.

October 20, 2021

Graphic Packaging welcomes opportunity to collaborate with the City of Kalamazoo and community representatives

Over the past 12 to 18 months, we have worked with the city of Kalamazoo on our $600 million expansion project on Pitcher Street and we have listened closely to the community’s quality-of-life concerns in the neighborhood.

Graphic Packaging, and the companies that owned the coated recycled board (CRB) mill in this community before us, have been here for well over 100 years. Our employees live and work in this community and we are proud of what we do.

September 2, 2021

Improved U.S. Route 131 Interchange Would Benefit Kalamazoo Community, Graphic Packaging

After years of traffic bottlenecks and efforts by many local officials and businesses, Kalamazoo is finally poised to benefit from the federal funding necessary to reconstruct the U.S. 131 interchange located just northwest of downtown Kalamazoo. For more than 25 years, the townships of Kalamazoo, Cooper, and Oshtemo, the cities of Kalamazoo and Parchment, along with Kalamazoo County and our state and federal elected delegations have been having this discussion.

This long-awaited project would give the community – and anyone passing through the north side of Kalamazoo – the ability to get onto U.S. 131 and head south without first going north or without driving through residential neighborhoods or downtown to access West Main Street and connect with U.S. 131 to head south.

June 29, 2021

Graphic Packaging Committed to Kalamazoo as Project Comes to Life

As a major employer in Kalamazoo, we at Graphic Packaging recognize our duty to partner with the community when it comes being a good neighbor and we know it is more important now than ever as we work towards the completion of an expansion project.

In Kalamazoo, we are currently in the midst of a $600 million project to build a new mill that will improve the competitiveness of our local operations and help to ensure job security for employees at our Kalamazoo operations for years to come.

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May 21, 2021

Graphic Packaging Partners with Community to Expand Kalamazoo Operations

Graphic Packaging’s Kalamazoo roots run deep. Our plant on Pitcher Street on the city’s North side has been in operation for more than 100 years, employing generations of Kalamazoo residents.

So, when the company was deciding in 2019 where to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to build a new, state-of-the-art coated recycled board (CRB) machine, Kalamazoo was at the top of the list. The only question was how state and local officials would react to the project, especially with a competing suitor to their south in Ohio.

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