Prinzhorn owner Thomas Prinzhorn and Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai symbolically threw the switch to start the machinery at Central and Eastern Europe's most modern paper plant. The investment was awarded a HUF 3.5bn state grant decided by the government on a case-by-case basis.

The plant can turn out 400,000 tonnes of packaging paper a year made entirely from recycled feedstock. Dunapack, the Prinzhorn's other paper unit in Hungary, processes about 90pc of the recycled paper in Hungary. The plant in Dunaujvaros will employ 280 people, but it will indirectly create 500-600 jobs at suppliers. The plant, which took 19 months to build, is expected to generate annual revenue of EUR 140m-150m, Econews reported earlier. Production is starting at 50pc capacity, but is expected to reach full capacity in two years.