26 | “We are now looking to take on people with the potential to continuously improve their capability because that’s what our industry needs to help secure its future.” REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Whakatane: Asaleo Care Kelly Deeks Mill opens career pathways for youth Essity, New Zealand’s only tissue paper manufacturer, is one of the Bay of Plenty’s largest employers with more than 200 employees working at the Kawerau site. OCCUPATIONAL HYGIENE AND ENVIRONMENTAL AIRQUALITY CONSULTANTS > Indoor Air Quality > Exposure Monitoring for: • Dust & Fibres • Welding Fume • Noise • Gases • Chemicals Proudly working with Essity > Resource Contents > Guidance on Controls > Ambient Air Monitoring New Zealand’s only tissue paper manufacturer, Essity, is working alongside other Kawerau businesses and organisations to develop pathways to employment for local youth as members of Industrial Symbiosis Kawerau (ISK), an incorporated society whose members work together to maintain and grow sustainable industrial development. Essity is one of the Bay of Plenty’s largest employers with more than 200 employees working at the Kawerau site. Essity general manager Peter Hockley says the mill has been developing a cadetship programme for the past two years to help new employees develop their skill base and gain the training and qualifications they need for a successful career in the pulp and paper industry. As these cadets graduate, they have the opportunity to advance their careers at the mill ensuring Essity has the capabilities it needs for the future. Essity uses the online learning framework Learning Compass to take its cadets through courses and assess them. While Essity apprentices are taken on generally straight from school they are employed by industry training groups such as ETCO and ATNZ, and the mill provides the training environment. Cadets to date have joined with more work experience ensuring Essity has workers capable of safely working with heavy machinery. “We are now looking to take on people with the potential to continuously improve their capability because that’s what our industry needs to help secure its future. Many people have been with us for their entire working career, because Essity is a very good place to work.” Investment in training at the mill is increasing as the company prepares to implement its ground-breaking, world-first geothermal project, where one of its two paper machines is converted from fossil fuel to geothermal. This move comes from Essity’s lifecycle assessments on all its major products which have helped to identify carbon hot-spots in the supply chain. Essity came up with the idea to build the world’s first geothermal steam drying paper machine, and has worked alongside industry experts for more than a decade to create a sustainable and commercially viable solution. Essity has been using geothermal steam purchased from local iwi Ngāti Tūwharetoa since it decommissioned two natural gas steam boilers in 2010. The upgraded machine will mean a significant increase in the amount of steam purchased by Essity, as well as helping to secure the future of the Kawerau site and supporting many local and regional contracting and services businesses. The upgrades require a renewed investment in the capabilties of the Essity production team, led and delivered by leaders on site. “We didn’t have that training model before because it doesn’t exist in New Zealand, since we are the only tissue paper manufacturer in the country,” Peter says. “The training has commenced, and we are confident it will be a real success for our people and the site.” As a member of ISK, Essity is proud to sponsor local events and initiatives in support of increased community wellbeing. One initiative supported by Essity, is Christmas baskets for around 150 underprivileged families in Kawerau. Peter says Kawerau is starting to grow again since the ‘strike town’ days of the 1970s and 1980s. Kawerau was built around the Tasman Pulp and Paper mill, and is New Zealand’s youngest town, dating back to just 1953. As mill workers started to earn more money, they headed to larger properties, still nearby but at the beach or in the country, and the number of employees residing in the township diminished. It has since been replenished by Aucklanders attracted to the district by its lower house prices, and the need for new homes to meet Kawerau’s growing population is being answered with Kawerau District Council’s new 5.42ha Roy Stoneham Park residential development next to Kawerau Pütauaki School.
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