Sofidel Holds Grand Opening Ceremony for 1st Greenfield Manufacturing Facility in U.S.

Sofidel officially opened the doors on its first greenfield integrated paper mill in Circleville, Ohio. Spanning more than 1.6 million s.f., the facility manufactures toilet paper, paper towels, facial tissue and other specialty paper products.

“The United States is a crucial market for us and is where we intend grow,’’ said Luigi Lazzareschi, CEO of the Sofidel Group, which owns subsidiaries in 13 countries, including Sofidel America. “This plant will help us fuel our growth significantly and further our commitment to sustainable, environmentally responsible development, and we are extremely proud of it.”

Gray Construction, a leading engineering, architecture and construction firm, was selected to design and build this complex project. The highly automated facility is ¾ of a mile long and sits on some 280 acres.

“We are thrilled to be part of this landmark project with Sofidel,” said Stephen Gray, president and CEO of Gray Construction. “This has been an outstanding project with both teams working cohesively to ensure success.”

As the sixth largest manufacturer in the world of toilet paper, paper towels, facial tissue and other specialty paper products, Sofidel employs some 6,000 employees globally. Sofidel also recently announced a second greenfield investment in the U.S. in Oklahoma, which is another Gray project.

Lazzareschi and Emi Stefani, chairman of the Sofidel Group, attended the event. Sofidel clients and suppliers, federal, state and local officials and stakeholders were joined in celebrating the opening of the manufacturing plant.

About Sofidel Group

The Sofidel Group is one of the leading manufacturers of paper for hygienic and domestic use worldwide. Established in 1966, the Group has subsidiaries in 13 countries – Italy, Spain, the UK, France, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Poland, Hungary, Greece, Romania, Turkey and the USA – with more than 6,000 employees, net sales of 1,947 million USD (2017) and a production capacity of over one million tonnes per year (1,098,000 tonnes in 2017). “Regina,”, its most well-known brand, is present on almost all the reference markets. Other brands include: Softis, Le Trèfle, Sopalin, Nouvelle, Thirst Pockets, KittenSoft, Nalys, Cosynel, Yumy, Soft & Easy, Volare, Onda, Lycke, Forest, Nicky, Papernet. A member of the UN Global Compact and the international WWF Climate Savers program, the Sofidel Group considers sustainability a strategic factor with regards to growth and is committed to promoting socially and environmentally responsible development.

For more information, visit https://www.sofidel.com/en/.

About Gray Construction

Gray Construction is a nationally ranked engineering, architecture and construction firm with nearly 60 years of experience in manufacturing, automotive, food and beverage, distribution and retail facility construction. Currently, Gray has several large projects that are under way or recently completed including: a new global logistics parts consolidation center (PCC) for Mercedes-Benz in Woodstock, Ala.; world-class DogStar® Kitchens for Champion Petfoods in Auburn, Ky., as well as custom-fitted NorthStar® Kitchens for Champion in Alberta, Canada a new paint shop for Volvo Car US Operations Inc. in Ridgeville, S.C.; a fresh pork processing facility in Coldwater, Mich., for Clemens Food GroupKraft Heinz in Davenport, Iowa, named Food Engineering Magazine’s 2018 Plant of the Year.

For more information on Gray, visit www.gray.com and follow us @grayconstructio.