Quinn Packaging to invest €3 million in new extrusion line

The investment follows on the heels of another major investment of Quinn Industrial Holdings Ltd. (QIHL), the company which acquired both the Quinn Packaging and Construction Industry Supply businesses two years ago. Since then, QIHL has generated 74 new positions in that period and announced further investment in its lorry fleet, recently taking delivery of phase one of a major capital investment program to replenish the 140-strong Quinn haulage fleet.

Mark McKenna, General Manager of Quinn Packaging has emphasized 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, Co Cavan, and a workforce of over 140 people, the company manufactures a wide array of plastic packaging products.  The product range consists of 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 supplier is SML, an Austrian company that specializes in building high performance extrusion equipment, and will feature the Vacurema Recycling System from EREMA (Ansfelden, Austria), a proprietary technology which allows the use of postconsumer, or recycled PET bottle flake to make food contact approved PET sheet.

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

"SML Maschinen GmbH 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, utilizing 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."