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The pace of announcements from packaging manufacturers about new facility projects or expanded facilities slowed a little bit during the last month compared with earlier this year. Still, several announced projects. Here are plans that North American companies recently detailed to grow their paper and plastic packaging production:
- Danone Canada will invest $9 million (CAD) in its Boucherville, Quebec, plant to begin producing individual yogurt cups made from PET resin for its Oikos brand. This is Danone’s first such facility in Canada. The company also plans to integrate recycled PET, with a goal for that to be 30% of the yogurt cups’ content.
- DuPont, which is based in the United States, expanded a facility in Costa Rica to produce sterile packaging for the healthcare industry. The 16,000-square-foot addition will boost the company’s ability to serve customers in the Caribbean, and in the Americas more broadly. The added extrusion equipment and production lines enable the manufacturing of packaging such as pouches, header bags and lids.
- Green Bay Packaging will invest $1 billion to expand its existing kraft linerboard mill in Morrilton, Arkansas. The project involves replacing key components, such as the recovery boiler and biomass boiler infrastructure, in addition to installing an electric turbine generator. The company will also purchase roughly 300 acres of land for future investments and expansion.
- Sonoco will expand production of its rigid paper-bottom cans in the United States at four facilities. The company intends to install new paper-bottom presses and can lines at facilities in West Chicago, Illinois; Greenville, Wisconsin; Dayton, New Jersey; and Norwalk, California. Sonoco did not specify the level of funding, but a spokesperson called it a multimillion-dollar investment.
Other updates
- International Paper is exploring the possibility of building a new facility in Salt Lake City. Although it did not specify what it might manufacture at the facility, IP said in a news release that “this proposed new facility will feature cutting-edge technology and equipment” if it moves forward. The release said that Utah would be a new market for IP’s production.
- Nova Chemicals opened three of the four lines at its first plant to produce polyethylene material from mechanically recycled postconsumer plastic film, and the plant should be fully operational by year’s end. The facility in Connersville, Indiana, is operated by packaging manufacturer Novolex.
