TORONTO - Paper and cardboard company Atlantic Packaging Products is closing its recycled newsprint plant in Whitby, Ont., citing a "drastic" decline in North American newsprint demand.
The move affects 151 employees at the plant in Whitby, east of Toronto, which was Canada's first 100 per cent recycled newsprint plant.
Toronto-based Atlantic Packaging says a combination of the decline in newsprint demand, the rising value of the Canadian dollar and increased costs for raw material gives it no choice but to close the operation.
President John Cherry says the company decided to shut the Whitby plant after discussions with governments and its union were not enough to offset the negative impact of market conditions.
