US – Germany-based multinational chemical and consumer goods company, Henkel has announced the completion of US$45 million Salisbury production facility in North California.
The company added an area of 10,000ft² to the site to produce ultra-violet (UV)-curable acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSA).
According to Henkel, the expansion will allow more sustainable and innovative PSAs to be brought to the tape, label, medical and graphics films markets.
The company’s Salisbury facility specializes in producing adhesives under the brand LOCTITE for various markets, including packaging, consumer goods and electronics.
Gary Rzonca, Senior Vice President, Packaging and Consumer Goods, Henkel North America said: “The investment in Henkel’s Salisbury operation has created a one-of-a-kind facility dedicated to efficiently meeting the growing demand of our customers.
“We are grateful for the support of our valued partners and our dedicated employees who have made this new facility a reality.”
The site currently has more than 217,000ft² of production space, including its new UV acrylics operations, and employs 230 people. The company plans to create 20 jobs at the facility next year.
In addition, the expansion will increase Henkel’s production of sustainable PSA solutions for tape, label, medical and graphics films to meet increasing demand.
Henkel global UV Hot Melt Pressure Sensitive Adhesives project manager Bruno Motta said: “The new production area at the Salisbury facility is a major investment for Henkel and represents the first large-scale UV hotmelt production plant outside of Europe, creating a tremendous resource for our customers in North America.
“Being closer to our customers brings supply chain efficiencies and offers additional collaboration opportunities to develop customized, innovative solutions for their high performance and high-value applications.”
UV Curable Acrylic PSAs are designed to coat a range of facestocks, says Henkel, and serve all segments of traditional pressure-sensitive markets.
The company designs its polymers for this purpose and provides many different types of curing systems.
One type, unique to Henkel, is a cationic-cured UV PSA, which is produced using a novel curing mechanism that cuts back on energy consumption by curing extremely high coat weights.
Early last month, Henkel entered a strategic partnership with packaging certification body cyclos-HTP Institute (Chi) to boost access to sustainable packaging and consumer goods products.
The partners will work to provide access to in-house testing and certification, joint material science research and development, and consultation on sustainable packaging design.
They aim to offer customers a more comprehensive and aligned service by combining their experience and knowledge.
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