The plastic milk bottles producer said that Dairy Crest chief executive Mark Allen and Nampak Plastics managing director Eric Collins unveiled a plaque to celebrate the venture, which will create new jobs at the plant.
The multi-million pound investment has been three years in the making and has enabled all bottling machines to feed directly into the dairy, making the Dairy Crest site efficient, according to the firm.
The machines have also been converted into two litre and four pint Infini bottles – Nampak's multi-award-winning lightweight bottle.
The combined Foston site currently employs around 165 people. The new developments will provide extra demand that will see the company increase its workforce by a third
Site manager Carl Jones said: "Being an in-plant bottle manufacturer provides a lot of environmental benefits, such as reducing the cost of transporting empty bottles to dairies for filling. These changes mean we can really make the most of that facility and we're delighted that it will also enable us to create more jobs in Foston."
Dairy Crest chief executive Mark Allen said: "We are pleased that Nampak has completed this project. ?We aim to have the most efficient dairies in the UK and this is another step towards that goal."
Dairy industry
Elsewhere, Nampak has been heralded as a key contributor to the British dairy industry's carbon reduction successes.
The UK dairy industry praised Nampak in its fourth Dairy Roadmap published yesterday (25 June).
Dairy Roadmap chair Kate Allum said: "Looking internationally, we know that there are individual cases of companies around the world undertaking supply chain projects, or focusing on the environmental performance of their sites. However, in Britain we recognised that in order to achieve real change we need the whole dairy supply chain to work together from farmers through to retailers."
Nampak Plastics managing director Eric Collins added: "Since its launch in 2012, Infini has continuously been responsible for a paradigm shift in milk packaging, using considerably less virgin material and increasing quantities of recycled plastic. All of our bottles, including the Infini range, currently contain up to 15% but the move to up to 30% is a major step forward for everyone involved in the British milk industry.
"To be able to reach this important landmark well ahead of schedule is something we're very proud of."
