Berry invests $20M to upgrade tape plant
EVANSVILLE, IND. — Berry Plastics Corp. is investing $20 million in its Franklin, Ky., plant as part of a capital-improvement plan to replace antiquated equipment with new energy-efficient machines, the company announced Sept. 29.
The 53-year-old plant, which employs 500, makes duct and automotive tape, and other related tape products.
The Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority has preliminarily approved $10 million in tax incentives under the Kentucky Industrial Revitalization Act for the project.
“Knowing that we can make the investment in the plant, because the state is making an investment too, fortifies a strong and continuing economic opportunity for all interests,” said Thomas Salmon, president of Berry Plastics Tapes & Coatings, in a news release.
Evansville-based Berry will implement a closed-loop manufacturing system to “eliminate open-handling methods for raw material introduction and disposal” that typically would release particulates into the air, the release said.
Thermoformer Par-Pak adds recycling line
BRAMPTON, ONTARIO — Thermoformed packaging firm Par-Pak Ltd. will invest $2.5 million to $3 million on a new production line to add post-consumer recycled-content PET in its products, starting in early 2010.
The company expects to process as much as 25 million pounds of post-consumer recycled PET at its Brampton plant, starting in the first quarter of next year, said vice president of sales, Glen Armstrong.
Brampton-based Par-Pak will buy post-consumer, cleaned PET flake and use the new line to decontaminate and purify the material to meet federal food-grade standards in the U.S. and Canada, Armstrong said Oct. 1 by phone. The company will extrude the PET into sheet and thermoform it into packaging at Brampton or its other sites in the U.S. and Canada.
Armstrong said the company's biggest issue may be finding a steady supply of clean post-consumer PET. Increased interest by packaging companies, including thermoformers and blow molders, is putting heavy demand on the supply stream. At the same time, that could push forward recycling efforts to collect the material, he noted.
Wood-plastic fence producer shuts down
TORRINGTON, WYO. — Wood-plastic composite fence maker Heartland BioComposites LLC, which produces Prairie-Picket fencing, has closed its doors, putting about 25 people out of work.
The shutdown is permanent, said Lisa Johnson, executive director of the Goshen County Economic Development Corp., in a Sept. 25 telephone interview.
The 30,000-square-foot plant in Torrington is for sale, along with two extrusion lines and the upstream and downstream auxiliary equipment for manufacturing composite fence panels, said Todd Johnson, president of Pinnacle Bank in Torrington.
Pinnacle Bank is overseeing the sale of the facility.
Company owner and President Heath Van Eaton could not be reached for comment.
Heartland uses a proprietary mix of wheat straw and recycled polyethylene.
CanWel to distribute TimberTech products
WILMINGTON, OHIO — Wood-plastic composite fence, deck and railing manufacturer TimberTech Ltd. in Wilmington has entered a distribution agreement with Canadian building products distributor CanWel Building Materials Ltd.
Vancouver-based CanWel has more than 7,500 retail locations throughout Canada.
“CanWel provides TimberTech with a strong national presence in Canada and TimberTech's products fit well with CanWel's commitment to specialty building materials,” said Kevin Brennan, TimberTech's senior vice president of sales and marketing, in a news release.
A partnership with TimberTech makes sense for CanWel, said Steve Van Kouteren, a principal with Exton, Pa.-based consulting firm Principia Partners, via e-mail.
TimberTech has a Canadian Construction Materials Centre code report for its products, which ensures that they meet Canada's National Building Code requirements. That, combined with a lack of large-scale Canadian composite deck manufacturers, makes the deal none too surprising, Van Kouteren said.
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