{"id":84230,"date":"2026-09-03T18:46:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T18:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/84230\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T18:46:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T18:46:11","slug":"jobs-at-risk-at-ds-smith-kemsley-paper-mill-amid-plans-to-shut-down-one-of-its-machines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/84230\/","title":{"rendered":"Jobs at risk at DS Smith Kemsley Paper Mill amid plans to shut down one of its machines"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Workers at the UK’s largest paper mill are facing potential redundancies following proposals to shut down one of its machines.<\/p>\n

DS Smith in Kemsley, Sittingbourne<\/a>, has announced the proposed closure of one machine and a multi-million-pound investment into another.<\/p>\n

\"An\"AnAn aerial photo of Kemsley Paper Mill. Picture: DS Smith and E.ON<\/p>\n

The company makes a variety of paper and cardboard-based products at its site in Ridham Avenue.<\/p>\n

It has not yet revealed how many jobs could be affected but said changes to the workforce \u201cto align the site structure with future operational requirements\u201d would be subject to consultation with employees and union representatives.<\/p>\n

It is proposing to close Paper Machine 4, known as PM4, and to invest \u00a320 million into Paper Machine 6, known as PM6.<\/p>\n

The investment would modernise and expand its capabilities, allowing it to produce new grades of paper at an increased production volume.<\/p>\n

According to the company, the proposals reinforce the business\u2019 commitment to providing quality and service to customers, also reflecting the evolving market conditions of the paper and packaging industry.<\/p>\n

It added that move would impact the number of roles required at the mill.<\/p>\n

\"Bosses\"BossesBosses at DS Smith in Kemsley\u00a0have announced the proposed closure of one machine\u00a0and a multi-million-pound investment into another. Picture: DS Smith and E.ON<\/p>\n

Discussions regarding the potential changes and timeline and support measures for affected employees are underway.<\/p>\n

Managing director of paper Rogier Gerritsen said: \u201cWe are announcing a significant investment proposal for the Kemsley Paper Mill to ensure we are delivering the right products to our customers and remain cost competitive.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the same time, we recognise how difficult part of these proposals will be for some of our colleagues and our immediate focus is on supporting them through a formal consultation process.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are of the view that these proposals would support the realisation of Kemsley Paper Mill\u2019s position as a cost-effective, future-ready mill whilst continuing to create long-term value for our people, our customers, and the local community.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2024, DS Smith announced a \u00a348m upgrade to its fibre preparation line<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The paper mill was built in 1924 and is the second largest in Europe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Workers at the UK’s largest paper mill are facing potential redundancies following proposals to shut down one of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":84231,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21068],"tags":[21104,21103,54209,60930],"class_list":["post-84230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-e-on","tag-e-on","tag-e-on-se","tag-human-interest","tag-sittingbourne"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84230\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}