Newspaper & Mailroom
Newsprinters opens worlds largest print plant
Monday 21. April 2008 - Newsprinters, the newspaper manufacturing subsidiary of News International, today announces the opening of the worlds largest print plant at Broxbourne, Hertfordshire.
Brian McGee, managing director of Newsprinters, says: “This new Broxbourne facility represents an enormous advance in our capabilities – a truly state-of-the-art printing system that we are confident will deliver real innovation for years to come. Our investment of some £650m should be ample answer to those who believe the business of journalism, in print, is a business for yesterdays readers, not tomorrows. We believe that print will continue to be a driving force, even in this connected age.”
Housing 12 state-of-the-art printing presses and covering an area the size of 23 football pitches, the Broxbourne plant represents the final stage in News Internationals £650 million investment in next generation print technology, complementing new press plants in Knowsley and Glasgow. The three plants together deploy 19 MAN Roland presses allowing all four News International national titles – The Times, The Sunday Times, The Sun and The News of the World – to print full colour on every page with enhanced quality and to triple print speed, thus achieving later deadlines. In addition, from 17 April 2008, thelondonpaper, News Internationals London free newspaper will also be printed at Broxbourne on one press with more presses to come on stream progressively.
The scale of the operation and the speed of the presses – capable of producing more than 1 million copies per hour of a full colour newspaper – enable Newsprinters to generate additional revenue through contract printing. The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph will be printed at the new plants in the future.
The technology in the plants conforms to the latest environmental standards. The electricity supply is from green energy and the newsprint is made primarily from recycled paper with any added virgin fibres sourced from sustainable, managed forests.
Broxbourne fact file
The largest printing facility in the world
23 football pitches can fit inside the site
Contains enough steel to build the Eiffel Tower twice
450 staff employed
12 MAN Roland presses producing 1 million full colour copies per hour
5,000 tonnes of paper and 100 tonnes of ink used per week
Fully automated reel unloading, storage and transportation
Fully automated stacking, strapping and palletisation
24 months from award of Planning Permission to first copy for sale
Brownfield site cleaned-up with minimal environmental impact
70% of construction waste recycled
Majority of lighting is sensor driven
Site location for optimisation of copy distribution
Energy efficient plant with energy supplied from renewable sources
Cleaning fluids recycled within the plant
All newsprint waste collected for recycling