Major investment by Quinn Packaging

Quinn Packaging, the Irish plastic packaging company based in Ballyconnell has announced it is to invest over €3 million in a new PET sheet extrusion line.

The investment is part of the company’s strategy to become a major player in the rigid food packaging market and will provide additional capacity to further develop its PET sheet and meat tray business when the machine is fully commissioned in mid-2016. 

The investment represents another major investment of Quinn Industrial Holdings Ltd (QIHL), the company which acquired both the Quinn Packaging and Construction Industry Supply businesses in December 2014. QIHL has created 74 new jobs in that period and announced further investment in its lorry fleet, recently taking delivery of phase one of a major capital investment programme to replenish the 140-strong Quinn haulage fleet. 

Mark McKenna, General Manager of Quinn Packaging has emphasised the importance of the investment as part of a long term growth strategy: 

“This investment in Quinn Packaging will allow the company to further develop its’ presence within the rigid food packaging sector and represents a commitment to our customers and employees. We believe that the extra investment being made in the Vacurema recycling system as part of the new extrusion line will give us a competitive advantage over many of our competitors by allowing us to replace virgin polymer material with recycled material and still produce a higher quality sheet.” 

With a 19,000m2 production facility in Ballyconnell, and a workforce of over 140 people the company manufactures a range of plastic packaging products. These products include Rigid Packaging for the Food Industry (meat/poultry trays, ready meal trays, mushroom punnets, dairy spread containers & thin gauge sheet for form, fill & seal applications) and Flexible Packaging for Industrial & Agricultural Applications (shrink/stretch hoods and silage wrap). 

The machine will be supplied by SML, an Austrian company who specialise in building high performance extrusion equipment, and will feature the Vacurema Recycling System from EREMA, a patented technology which allows the use of post-consumer, or recycled PET bottle flake to make food contact approved PET sheet. 

Speaking on the investment Karl Stoeger, Managing Director of SML, stated: 

“SML Maschineng mbH of Austria looks forward to supplying Quinn Packaging with a new state-of-the-art sheet line for the production of high-quality, food-grade RPET-sheet for its thermoforming applications. The line specification is based on SML’s technology partnership with Erema Austria, utilising the Vacurema system for the main extruder and SML’s single screw technology for the co-extruded skin layers. A high capacity roll stack and downstream equipment, together with additional laminating capability for a functional film, will ensure flexible and highest-quality sheet supply for Quinn’s expanding packaging business.”