CHINA – American-Australian global packaging company, Amcor has inaugurated its new US$100 million advanced flexible packaging manufacturing plant in Huizhou, China.
The 590,000-square-foot plant is claimed to be the largest flexible packaging plant by production capacity in China, further strengthening Amcor’s ability to meet growing customer demand throughout Asia Pacific.
The new facility is expected to employ more than 550 people, who will produce flexible packaging solutions for food and personal-care products.
According to Amcor, the plant comes equipped with the first automated packaging production line in China.
This, along with high-speed printing presses, laminators, and bag-making machines, can deliver double-digit reductions in manufacturing cycle times.
Amcor is also deploying the first smart production and operation system in the Chinese flexible packaging industry, which includes smart laser scanners, light curtains, high-standard machine guarding and multiple quality-control points.
The firm says that all key process equipment is also CE-certified to stringent EU health, safety and environmental requirements.
Other benefits of the new state-of-the-art facility are traceability throughout the production cycle, a climate-controlled production environment and low-carbon emission production.
Xin She, Vice President and General Manager of Amcor Greater China notes: “This investment is a testament to our commitment to grow with our customers in China and throughout Asia Pacific by bringing the best of Amcor’s global expertise closer to them.
“The world-class capabilities of our new plant are designed to enable us to exceed our customers’ expectations of quality, responsiveness and innovation.”
The plant features three labs with innovative testing and analytical capabilities to fully leverage the expertise from the recently opened Amcor Asia Pacific Innovation Center in Jiangyin, China, helping to accelerate the development of responsible packaging solutions.
The new Huizhou site also includes a number of sustainability features, including the latest Regenerative Thermal Oxidizers (RTO) system to reduce harmful emissions, as well as a number of energy reduction, heat recovery, low power consumption, and rainwater harvesting systems to help reduce its carbon footprint and environmental impact.
Earlier this month, Amcor signed a strategic deal with ExxonMobil to purchase certified-circular polyethylene material in support of its target to achieve 30% recycled material across its portfolio by 2030.
Through ExxonMobil’s Exxtend technology for advanced recycling, Amcor intends to leverage this material across its global portfolio, with a particular focus on the healthcare and food industries, which are required to meet stringent safety requirements for recycled plastic.
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