Mold-Rite Plastics LLC, an injection molder that specializes in plastic closures, is expanding in Twinsburg, Ohio. The project will help the company boost its use of post-consumer resin.
In a speech at the July 8 groundbreaking ceremony, President and CEO Brian Bauerbach called the Twinsburg site "the gold standard, the market leader, for plastic packaging for the nutrition market."
The Chicago-based company has three molding plants: Twinsburg; Plattsburgh, N.Y.; and Somerset, N.J. The Twinsburg site is the former Weatherchem Corp., a 49-year-old company that Mold-Rite acquired in 2012.
"This plant is now producing over 750 million units per year, which is a pretty remarkable thing," Bauerbach said. "If you walk through any grocery store or drug store, for any nutritional item, if it's got a flip-top cap on it, it was probably made right here, and that's anywhere in the world, not just in the Twinsburg area."
The expansion will boost production to more than 1 billion units a year, Bauerbach said. The company did not disclose the cost of the project, but he said it will put an additional $3.5 million a year into the local economy, mostly through wages.
"This factory has grown at a rate three times the industry average over the last five years," Bauerbach said.
Plastics News estimates the company's annual sales at $165 million.
Mold-Rite has remained open through the COVID-19 pandemic and has seen growing demand from products including spices, vitamins, over-the-counter pharmaceuticals, soaps and sanitizers.
Carol Rinder, vice president of operations for the Twinsburg facility, said the new addition will allow the plant to increase its business by more than 25 percent.
The company said the expansion will allow the facility to use post-consumer resin in its products. All of the Twinsburg facility's current product offerings are manufactured with polypropylene. Mold-Rite said it is "working closely with brand owners to incorporate more recycled content into their packaging."
"We are manufacturing important products, adding employment opportunities and working to improve the environment," Rinder said. "We are excited to make this investment in our community."