Which business this profile covers
Saica is a Spanish industrial group producing recycled paper and packaging and providing waste management services. Its parent is Aragocias, S.A., whose registered office at Avenida San Juan de la Peña, 144, Zaragoza, appears in the May 2026 BORME notice. The historic operating company, Sociedad Anónima Industrias Celulosa Aragonesa, tax identifier A50002567, carries out papermaking activities and identifies the corporate website. The group brand, parent and operating company have different roles: the consolidated figures in this profile relate to the Saica Group as a whole. BORME: Aragocias, parent company, 19 May 2026; Saica: legal entity and registered address; Saica: 2025 public country-by-country report, PDF p. 2.
A family business founded in Zaragoza
The sustainability report dates the founding to 4 February 1943 and describes the continuity of family ownership. Integration began in 1975 with packaging and waste recovery plants, the origins of Pack and Natur. Entry into France in 1998 and the opening of Partington, near Manchester, in 2012 expanded the industrial base. Flexible packaging joined the business in 2015, followed by the acquisition of French group Emin Leydier in 2018. The 2025 tax report identifies group companies but does not establish individual family ownership percentages. Saica: 2022–2023 sustainability report, PDF p. 3; Saica: history, activities and management; Saica: 2025 public country-by-country report, PDF p. 2.
Four connected divisions
Saica Natur collects, sorts and recovers waste; Saica Paper turns recovered paper into paper for corrugated board; Saica Pack makes corrugated packaging; and Saica Flex produces flexible packaging. Integration links recovery, papermaking and converting, alongside purchases and sales involving outside businesses. Energy recovery from non-recyclable waste is another group activity and is distinct from material recycling. These four names represent business divisions, not four independent turnover figures to be added to consolidated sales. Saica: 2022–2023 sustainability report, PDF p. 10; Saica: operations in Aragón and completion of the Thimm acquisition, 1 September 2026.
Industrial products and services
Paper supplies different grades of paper for corrugated board. Pack designs packaging around the product and its logistics journey. Flex develops food and non-food packaging as well as labels. Natur provides waste management services for other businesses. The business combines materials with design, printing, protection and subsequent recovery. Claims about recyclability or performance need to be assessed for each specific solution and against the collection and treatment arrangements available. Saica: 2022–2023 sustainability report, PDF p. 10.
European expansion in 2026
On 24 July 2026 Saica announced European approval to acquire Thimm’s activities in Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic and Romania: nine corrugated board plants and one preprint plant. The 1 September announcement describes the purchase as completed, adding ten plants and approximately 2,500 employees. It places the group in thirteen countries with more than 14,500 people at that point. This post-acquisition snapshot is different from the reporting perimeter for 2025 sales and should not replace that year’s historical workforce figures. Saica: approval of the Thimm acquisition, 24 July 2026; Saica: operations in Aragón and completion of the Thimm acquisition, 1 September 2026.
2025 consolidated sales and available precision
Official announcements put the group’s 2025 consolidated sales at approximately €3,960 million. The July release states €3,961 million and the September release €3,962 million for the same year ended 31 December 2025. This profile uses an approximate figure and discloses the €1 million difference. It is a company-reported measure, not a financial-statement line checked here against audited accounts. Aggregate revenues in the country-by-country tax report use a different presentation and do not replace these consolidated sales. Saica: approval of the Thimm acquisition, 24 July 2026; Saica: operations in Aragón and completion of the Thimm acquisition, 1 September 2026; Saica: 2025 public country-by-country report, PDF p. 1.
Workforce and changes in scope
The 2025 public country-by-country report records 12,288 workers across group companies, including 4,331 in Spain. This is the population reported in that tax document; its three pages do not specify whether it is an annual average, a year-end figure or full-time equivalents. Its original label is therefore retained. The September 2026 announcement reports more than 14,500 people after Thimm. An organic growth rate cannot be calculated between these figures because both timing and scope change. Saica: 2025 public country-by-country report, PDF p. 1; Saica: operations in Aragón and completion of the Thimm acquisition, 1 September 2026.
Management and responsibilities
The corporate website checked on 8 November 2026 identifies Susana Alejandro as President and CEO, Enrique de Yraolagoitia as Managing Director and Pilar Franca as Director of Sustainable Development and People. Each division has its own management. The August 2026 safety, health and wellbeing policy is signed by the President and Managing Director and requires visible leadership and resources from managers. This documents governance and commitments; effectiveness depends on implementation at each site. Saica: history, activities and management; Saica: safety, health and wellbeing policy, 4 August 2026.
Saica Pack’s new Barcelona factory
The new plant at Can Margarit industrial estate in Sant Esteve Sesrovires was inaugurated on 27 October 2026. Saica reports that it is operating at full capacity, represents more than €100 million of investment and has capacity for 200 million square metres of corrugated board. It combines the former activities of Saica Pack Barcelona and El Prat and incorporates flexographic and offset printing. The figure is stated capacity, not achieved annual output. The release provides for recycling paper offcuts at Saica Paper plants and treating process water at the Barcelona facility itself. Saica: inauguration of the Barcelona plant, 27 October 2026.
Innovation, projects and safety by design
The 2022–2023 report records the opening of the R&D centre and automated warehouse at El Burgo de Ebro in 2023. The new Barcelona factory provides a later example of industrial digitalisation. For prevention, the report describes Stage-Gate, a management-of-change process linked to the H&S Framework that incorporates safety considerations from project design through final implementation. Automation alone does not demonstrate fewer injuries; that outcome requires evidence about tasks, exposures and results. Saica: 2022–2023 sustainability report, PDF p. 11; Saica: 2022–2023 sustainability report, PDF p. 32; Saica: inauguration of the Barcelona plant, 27 October 2026.
Saica’s own prevention framework
Saica developed its H&S Framework in 2018 to integrate management and control requirements across divisions and countries. The report describes progressive implementation, plant-specific plans and monthly management reviews of results and actions. The policy signed on 4 August 2026 incorporates wellbeing and covers hazard identification, risk assessment and control, worker participation and the authority to stop activities posing serious and imminent danger. Having this internal framework is not equivalent to group-wide ISO 45001 certification. Saica: 2022–2023 sustainability report, PDF p. 13; Saica: 2022–2023 sustainability report, PDF p. 31; Saica: safety, health and wellbeing policy, 4 August 2026.
Management training and preventive controls
Licence to Operate Safely, LTOS, began in late 2021 with senior management involvement and phased deployment to business, country and plant management committees. It aims to clarify responsibilities, commitments and resources. The Framework Index reached 62.23% at the end of 2023, compared with 55.47% in 2022. It averages the indices for compliance with the internal framework’s management and control requirements; it is not the percentage of certified sites or accident-free employees. Saica: 2022–2023 sustainability report, PDF p. 13; Saica: 2022–2023 sustainability report, PDF p. 32.
Injury indicators: results and discrepancies
Tables on printed pages 25 and 137 report a lost-time accident frequency index, IFAB, of 10.2 in 2023 versus 11.0 in 2022. The chart on page 62 instead shows 10.0 for 2023; the discrepancy is unresolved. The detailed table raises the severity index from 362.9 to 734.0, while Paper rises from 110.4 to 2,948.6. This is not a uniform improvement. The reviewed sources do not sufficiently specify the formula, denominator or treatment of contractors for these indices. They are retained as reported values, without comparison with other companies or presentation as 2025 or 2026 results. Saica: 2022–2023 sustainability report, PDF p. 13; Saica: 2022–2023 sustainability report, PDF p. 32; Saica: 2022–2023 sustainability report, PDF p. 69.
Specific controls for presses and isolation
The April 2025 internal awards document an engineering solution at Saica Natur Castan, which operates in Burgos, Santander and Valladolid: a hydraulic system for clearing blockages in paper and cardboard press hoppers. According to the announcement, it removes the need for work at height and confined-space entry during these interventions. Saica Pack Wigan introduced coloured wristbands to identify interventions and reinforce isolation procedures. These are initiatives by named sites and teams; the award records corporate recognition, but the announcement provides no independent measurement of injuries prevented or evidence of group-wide implementation. Saica: preventive improvements recognised on 30 April 2025.
Drivers, silos, vehicles and hot work
In April 2026 Saica recognised digital validation of external drivers’ understanding of safety rules before entry to Saica Natur Aragón. Partington received recognition for an initiative to redesign silo unloading; Saica Pack Dublin introduced AI-based cameras to identify dangerous interactions between vehicles and pedestrians; and Saica Flex Enniskillen established an outdoor area separating hot work, including maintenance and contractor activities. The source describes measures and preventive purposes. It does not publish detection sensitivity, a privacy assessment or a quantified causal reduction in accidents. Saica: preventive improvements recognised on 30 April 2026.
Fatal accident and a coordination judgment
On 4 August 2025 an employee of Saica contractor Aplicaciones Torres died during work inside a tank at Saica Paper in El Burgo de Ebro. UGT’s statement and elDiario.es reporting agree on the contractor, site and fatality. The newspaper reports that Saica activated medical assistance and was investigating the event. Initial descriptions of the task differ; the reviewed sources establish neither a subsequent judicial conclusion nor a definitive cause. UGT at Saica: statement on the fatal accident in August 2025; elDiario.es: contractor fatality and Saica’s response, 5 August 2025.
In a separate matter, Aragón High Court social judgment 271/2026 of 13 April, reproduced by Iberley, upheld €120,000 in penalties against Saica Flexible for preventive information and coordination concerning asbestos during 2016 air-conditioning works at Malpica, Zaragoza. It dismissed both the company’s and the administration’s appeals. The text also records closure of the criminal proceedings in 2020 and the possibility of a further cassation appeal; subsequent finality has not been established. It concerns that subsidiary and those works, not a criminal conviction of the entire group. Aragón High Court: judgment 271/2026, reproduced by Iberley.
Biomass and energy transformation
The biomass boiler at Nogent-sur-Seine, France, was officially completed in May 2026, according to the June announcement. The €86 million project replaces natural-gas boilers. The company expects it to meet 90% of the plant’s steam needs and reduce its fossil Scope 1 emissions by 75%. These are expected annual performance and effects, not consolidated measurements for the whole of 2026. At El Burgo de Ebro, the September release describes decarbonisation investment still planned. These environmental initiatives are distinct from occupational safety and health controls. Saica: Nogent-sur-Seine biomass boiler, 25 June 2026; Saica: operations in Aragón and completion of the Thimm acquisition, 1 September 2026.
What this case contributes to prevention
Sabentis’s editorial interpretation identifies three decisions worth examining: redesigning blockage-clearing tasks before relying solely on behaviour; checking that external workers understand instructions; and integrating safety into machinery and facility changes. Published initiatives do not by themselves establish effectiveness at every site. The latest complete sustainability report located on the reviewed website covers 2022–2023; 2025 and 2026 news updates actions but does not provide an equivalent injury series. Assessment needs to preserve these distinctions between policies, measures, data and outcomes. Saica: 2022–2023 sustainability report, PDF p. 32; Saica: preventive improvements recognised on 30 April 2025; Saica: preventive improvements recognised on 30 April 2026. Saica: sustainability report index, checked 8 November 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Is Saica a Spanish company?
Yes. The group is headed by Aragocias, S.A., registered in Zaragoza. The historic Sociedad Anónima Industrias Celulosa Aragonesa is also identified in that city; its name should not be used to attribute all group sales to that operating company individually. BORME: Aragocias, parent company, 19 May 2026; Saica: legal entity and registered address. [1] · [2]
What do the four divisions do?
Natur manages waste, Paper makes recycled paper for corrugated board, Pack produces corrugated packaging and Flex develops flexible packaging. They are connected businesses within the same group. Saica: history, activities and management; Saica: 2022–2023 sustainability report, PDF p. 10. [1] · [2]
How much did Saica sell in 2025?
The company reports worldwide consolidated sales of approximately €3,960 million for 2025. Its July and September 2026 releases state €3,961 million and €3,962 million respectively. The figure remains approximate and is not presented as a line verified in audited accounts. Saica: approval of the Thimm acquisition, 24 July 2026; Saica: operations in Aragón and completion of the Thimm acquisition, 1 September 2026. [1] · [2]
Had the Thimm acquisition completed?
The 1 September 2026 announcement describes the acquisition as completed, adding ten plants and approximately 2,500 people. Approval announced in July and subsequent completion are separate milestones. This change is not applied retrospectively to the 2025 figures. Saica: approval of the Thimm acquisition, 24 July 2026; Saica: operations in Aragón and completion of the Thimm acquisition, 1 September 2026. [1] · [2]
What specific preventive improvement is documented?
Saica Natur Castan developed a hydraulic system to clear press-hopper blockages, recognised in April 2025. According to the company, it avoids those interventions at height and in confined spaces. The announcement describes the solution and purpose but does not quantify injuries prevented. Saica: preventive improvements recognised on 30 April 2025. [1]
Do the indicators establish an overall improvement in safety?
No. The 2023 tables reduce IFAB to 10.2 from 11.0 in 2022, but raise severity to 734.0 from 362.9. The chart also shows 10.0 instead of 10.2. Without clarifying that discrepancy, the formula and the reporting population, external comparisons or claims of uniform improvement are inappropriate. Saica: 2022–2023 sustainability report, PDF p. 13; Saica: 2022–2023 sustainability report, PDF p. 32; Saica: 2022–2023 sustainability report, PDF p. 69. [1]
