A pair of new plastic bottling projects are expanding in the South — one for water and one for soda.
Both Niagara Bottling LLC and Coca-Cola Consolidated Inc. are planning projects, including a $25 million investment at an existing Coca-Cola bottling facility in West Memphis, Ark., and a $35 million expansion of a bottled water plant in Opelika, Ala., that opened just last year.
Coca-Cola Consolidated, based in Charlotte, N.C., is the nation's largest Coca-Cola bottler and is a separate from Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Inc. Independent bottlers around the country bottle and distribute Coca-Cola products, with Coca-Cola Consolidated serving a 14-state area in the Southeast, Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions.
The company is spending $25 million in a project that will not only see the bottler start using 100 percent recycled resin to make 20-ounce bottles for Coke-brand flavors, but also blow mold bottles on site from preforms instead of having empty bottles trucked to the location.
Bottles for all brands at the location also will be lighter weight, the company said.
"This investment in our teammates and production capabilities is a long-term commitment to improving," Steve Funderburke, vice president of manufacturing for Coca-Cola Consolidated, in a statement.
News of the expansion was large enough to attract Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders to a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the project. "They have been a consistent community partner in West Memphis, and this $25 million expansion only promises to grow that partnership," she said in a statement.
The Arkansas expansion is creating 19 new jobs.
The job growth in Opelika, Ala., for Niagara Bottling also expands the site not long after its opening. The company initially opened the bottling site in 2023, a $114 million project that created 65 jobs. This new project will add another 18 jobs.
"Expanding our operations is always a thrilling milestone for Niagara, and Opelika has proven to be a fantastic partner in this journey. The support and opportunities we've found here have been instrumental in our growth," Niagara Executive Vice President Brian Hess said in a statement.
Niagara's move into Opelika "has exceed our expectations as both a great community partner and an amazing company offering our citizens great career opportunities at very attractive wages," city Economic Development Director John Sweatman said in a statement.
Niagara, based in Diamond Bar, Calif., has rapidly expanded in recent years through a series of newly constructed bottled water plants around the country. The company bottles water under its own name as well as private labels for retailers.