Besicorp-Empire partners with Weyerhaeuser.

Besicorp-Empire Newsprint LLC has engaged Weyerhaeuser Corp. to supply its proposed recycled newsprint mill with 100 percent of the fiber required to operate the facility. Plans call for the mill to be built in Rensselaer, N.Y.

According to Besicorp, the company expects to use more than 400,000 tons per year of recyclable material. The old newspapers and old magazines will be collected from municipalities and recycling centers primarily in the Northeast.

The project received state permits to construct and operate the facility this past September and recently announced the selection of HSH Nordbank as lead arranger for the senior debt. Construction on the project is expected to begin this summer with the mill fully operational in the summer of 2007.