Welcome to Kemsley Paper Mill

Step inside the UK's largest Paper Mill

Take the Virtual Tour

Step inside the UK’s largest paper mill and enjoy a virtual tour of Kemsley Paper Mill. Follow the papermaking process from our quality hub to dispatch, learn how all the machines work, and meet the people that make it all possible.

What you can see on the tour:

Recycling quality hub – learn about our rigorous quality checks and standards when paper arrives at the mill
Stockyard - find out how we pick the perfect blend of fibres to make our high quality papers
Pulper – this is where we process fibres ready for our papermaking machines
Paper machine – discover how pulp is turned into paper
Paper quality testing lab – see how we put our products through its paces, so we can ensure our paper is of the highest quality
Warehouse – meet our Automated Guided Vehicles and watch how they work
Dispatch – Now our paper is ready to head off to our packaging plants all over Europe, ready to be turned back into new products

Read all our latest news articles and blogs about Kemsley Paper Mill

Robots at work: How we're investing in the latest technology to increase sustainability

We’ve invested in 10 Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) to operate at our Kemsley Paper Mill, bringing major benefits for our people, customers and the environment.

Partnering with Trimble to drive digitalisation at our paper mills

The online system, Wedge, has helped Kemsley mill deliver a more consistent and higher-performing production process and ultimately an improved product through its advanced data visualisation and manipulation tools.

Working with Kent County Council

Protecting and enhancing the environments in which we operate is one of the major goals in our Now and Next Sustainability Strategy.

Looking for more?

Discover all of our latest stories in our Newsroom and stay informed with all our sustainability updates, industry news, thought leadership pieces, and local stories.

Download our Kemsley Paper Mill Sheet here

The history of Kemsley Mill

Some of our key dates

1924
Kemsley Mill was built by Edward Lloyd commencing production in 1924, originally to produce newsprint
1936
Bowater’s acquired and expanded Kemsley Mill, increasing output on all machines
1970s
Kemsley had diversified into the production of corrugated case materials and fine papers. A pulp mill was added to produce semi-chemical fluting and PM3 was given a new multi-ply wet end with the ‘Manchester Former’ configuration to produce corrugated case liner
1980s
UK Paper completed a management buy-out and the site was split in two. The CCM operation was sold on to St Regis and the fine paper operation remained with UK Paper

1986
St Regis became part of DS Smith and, since then, its history has been one of constant investment and reshaping to turn it into the UK’s leading papermaker
2008
DS Smith acquired the entire site and began a heavy programme of investment in new infrastructure, ensuring a long and commercially successful future for Kemsley Mill in the 21st century
2012
Rebuild of PM3 to enable production of high quality White Liner
2018
Gas produced is recovered, cleaned and injected into National Grid by our Anaerobic Digester, reducing Kemsley's carbon footprint