Tenneco Packaging will spend $72 million to expand and diversify its Temple, Texas, plant, the firm announced July 6.
The biggest expenditure, at $40 million, will be to boost polystyrene foam sheet and container production by 25 percent. Tenneco will install an undisclosed number of new extrusion and thermoforming machines and upgrade existing lines.
Tenneco will introduce Hefty trash bag production at Temple at a cost of $25 million. Only the firm's Jacksonville, Ill., plant now makes the bags and will continue after Temple's production starts up. Extrusion and converting equipment will be installed in the Texas facility.
Temple will become Tenneco's first plant to make Hexware oriented polystyrene containers for takeout foods. The firm will invest about $3 million in thermoforming machines and other equipment to make the new products.
Hexware containers are six-sided, with a black base and clear, attached lid. Spokesman Warren Hazelton said the Temple plant will source OPS sheet for the containers from other sites.
Tenneco also said it will spend about $4 million to reduce air emissions with a regenerative thermal oxidizer at Temple.
Temple employs about 800 and will add another 130 jobs as a result of the new programs, all of which are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2000. Tenneco acquired the Temple facility as part of its $1.25 billion purchase of Mobil Chemical Co.'s plastics division in 1995.
Tenneco Packaging, based in Lake Forest, Ill., ranked No. 1 and No. 8, respectively in Plastics News' most recent surveys of North American thermoformers and film and sheet makers.