Sonoco Products Co. announced two expansions to its growing plastics packaging business this week.
The newest: 18,000 square feet of space at its Waynesville, N.C., plant, where it plans to start up a new multilayer, trim-in-place thermoforming line.
The line will make polypropylene food containers, including complex shapes for chilled foods and shelf-stable foods. The plant also added 33 employees.
"This investment in large-scale multilayer polypropylene production complements our existing capabilities for processed food packaging, which include crystallized PET and polypropylene frozen food trays; portion control cups; and blow molded bottles for retorted and aseptically processed beverages,” said Rodger Fuller, vice president of rigid plastics, in a news release.
Hartsville-based Sonoco acquired the Waynesville plant in 2010, as part of its purchase of Associated Packaging Technologies Inc. of Chadds Ford, Pa.
The company also announced this week that it has started commercial production of rigid plastic containers for personal care products at its new $15 million plant in New Albany, Ohio.
The 142,230-square-foot plant currently is operating 11 injection stretch blow molding lines, making PET bottles for personal care products. The plant also has four injection molding machines making components for wall air fresheners.
With the New Albany plant opening, which the company had previously announced, Sonoco now has 25 plastics operations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Ireland, Netherlands and Germany.
