11 Sept. 2023: WEPA UK is one of the leading suppliers of household paper in the country, manufacturing own label toilet paper products for the majority of the UK’s major multiple retailers. WEPA’s main focus is the production of private label household tissue, cleaning and related products.

WEPA is committed to decarbonising Bridgend Paper Mill and this IETF support is a catalyst for major investment in the main paper-making machine called ‘Jupiter’. The machine produces ‘parent’ reels – commonly weighing several tonnes – which are converted into consumer-ready products (mostly rolls or sheets) at the converting process on site.

The main motivations for this project include:

• installing new energy efficient equipment to help reduce carbon emissions in line with the science-based targets initiative (SBTI) and the Paris climate change agreement
• improve production quality and improve yield
• future proof the plant

WEPA has ~300 employees across all functions of its UK business, reporting into the WEPA Group headquarters based in Arnsberg, Germany.

How the project works
The areas of the plant that are being upgraded:

• new high efficiency motors will be deployed across the plant
• new vacuum system to increase the electrical efficiency and improve process control
• energy efficient paper line equipment improving drying and electrical efficiency

How the project is being funded
The project will be funded 74% by WEPA UK Ltd, with 26% being funded by the UK government’s Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF).

What investment the funding will help to unlock
The grant has the potential to be the catalyst that unlocks a further £5-10 million investment in the plant.

Expected outcomes
In simple terms, this delivers significant energy and carbon savings. A reduction of site electricity and gas consumption of approximately 11% achieving around 7.5% reduction in scope 1 & 2 CO2 emissions.

Richard Lewis, Energy & Environment Manager, WEPA UK Ltd, said: “WEPA UK has welcomed the IETF grant offer from the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero, as this is a step in the right direction on the decarbonisation journey and long term sustainability vision of the business. The IETF funding has enabled us to unlock the opportunity to increase the energy efficiency on an existing production line, namely Jupiter, which in turn will reduce the carbon footprint of the operation.”

IETF grant offered: £1,936,203
Project costs: £7,713,958
Location: Maesteg, South Wales
*Energy efficiency deployment competition: Jupiter energy efficiency project