Envirodyne Industries Inc. is closing its Sandusky Plastics injection molding plant and may sell its Viskase Corp. unit's PVC flexible film business.
The Sandusky Plastics plant in Sandusky, Ohio, will cease operations May 1. About 85 employees will be affected.
Although Envirodyne would not disclose the number of presses at that facility, it said it planned to move the equipment to Shreveport, La., and Twin Falls, Idaho, plants that make plastic cutlery and drinking straws for its Clear Shield National subsidiary.
``The return we were getting [at Sandusky] was not one we desired,'' said Envirodyne spokesman Steve Schuster. ``The decision was based on economies of scale and the utilization of machines at this time at Clear Shield.''
Envirodyne is based in Oak Brook, Ill.
The Twin Falls plant is under construction, and scheduled to open in 1998.
Sandusky Plastics injection molds polypropylene and high density polyethylene dairy and deli containers. The subsidiary also operates a thermoforming plant in Sandusky, which is not being sold. That plant will continue to serve the dairy, food and horticulture markets as well as custom make drinking cups for the vending and food-service industries.
Envirodyne also plans to sell its PVC film operations to concentrate on building its global specialty film and casings businesses.
``We're exploring all potential buyers,'' Schuster said.
The sale involves Viskase's plants in Aurora, Ohio, and Sedgefield, England. Company officials would not disclose the number of employees at each plant.
Viskase's PVC stretch and single-layer shrink films had sales of $54.2 million last year.
Earlier this year, Ivex Packaging Corp. of Lincolnshire, Ill., bought Envirodyne's Viskase Ltd. unit in Sedgefield, England, which extrudes oriented polystyrene sheet and thermoforms OPS containers for food markets.
The proceeds from the sale of Chicago-based Viskase Corp. will be used to retire debt or for general corporate purposes.
``We will devote our resources to the specialty film and cellulosic film areas and continue to develop new products in those areas,'' Schuster added.
In addition to PVC films, Viskase makes heat-shrinkable plastic bags and multilayer specialty films. Cellulosic casings are used in preparing and packaging processed meat.
Envirodyne is a $650 million holding company that operates through wholly owned subsidiaries. It runs more than 20 plants with 4,900 employees worldwide.