Combined Locks Paper Mill, Wisconsin

This large paper plant, in the town called Combined Locks, that built up around it, closed in 2017, joining many of the other 35 or so paper mills in Wisconsin, a state which, though still often ranked as the largest producer of paper in the country, is responding to a shrinking of the paper industry in a more electronic world. Unlike many others though, this plant, which had been operating since 1889, was soon purchased by Midwest Paper, and refitted to produce brown paper, used to make cardboard boxes. China recently stopped importing scrap cardboard from the US to reprocess, and an increase in the use of boxes for the delivery of e-commerce items has led to an increase in demand for cardboard for boxes. This briefly shuttered 1.2 million square-foot plant now operates again. It uses an Old Corrugated Container machine to liquefy recycled cardboard, shipped from retailers and recycling collection centers, extracting the plastic and metal pieces, forming a pulp used to make brown paper, for boxes.