Huhtamaki expands capacity of its Spain factory to scale operations

SPAIN – Finnish sustainable packaging company Huhtamaki has inaugurated a 12,500m² expansion of its paper-based packaging manufacturing site in Nules, Spain.

The expansion involved a €20 million (US$20.8m) investment, which included a grant of €2.2 million (US$2.3m) from the Conselleria de Hacienda y Modelo Economico.

Huhtamaki said the expansion will begin production this January and double the site’s capacity.

In line with the company’s 2030 Sustainability Ambitions, the extended facility has been built to comply with Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM1) sustainability standards.

BREEAM1 is the world’s longest-established method of assessing, rating and certifying the sustainability of buildings.

Official BREEAM “Very Good” Certification is expected to be received in Q1 2023 once the building at Nules is in operation.

The facility also features an advanced heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system to meet high thermal comfort standards for employees.

Huhtamaki Europe-Asia-Oceania fiber foodservice President Eric Le Lay said: “This investment, which will create around 130 new jobs when fully operational, has been aided by the Community of Valencia, which has supported the expansion of Nules with €2.2 million of development funding.

“It builds on our existing technological expertise and will further enhance our manufacturing capacity for innovative and sustainable paper-based packaging in Europe, providing our customers with the ability to substitute rigid plastics, which are being driven by consumer demand.

“We continue to urge EU policymakers to support legislation that enables and incentivizes innovation and sustainable packaging solutions.”

The expansion of Huhtamaki’s Nules factory highlights the increasing demand for renewable and recyclable paper-based packaging as an alternative to rigid plastics.

The factory develops sustainable packaging solutions for the company’s European customers.

In September, the Finnish company launched a paper cup recycling initiative called The Cup Collective, in collaboration with Stora Enso

The companies claim the program aims to ‘recycle and capture the value of used paper cups on an industrial scale.’

The program will start in the Benelux countries (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg), with the two companies adding they have issued ‘an open invitation for partners from across the supply chain to get involved in working toward a systemic European solution.’

In addition, the program intends to make it easier for consumers and businesses to collect used paper cups to be regenerated into recycled raw material.

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