Cascades Inc. (Kingsey Falls, QC, Canada), a leader in the recovery and manufacture of green packaging and tissue products, is investing $4.5 million in its Plastiques Cascades plant in Kingsey Falls and its Cascades Inopak plant in Drummondville. Both of these plants specialize in the manufacture of packaging for fresh food made from recycled plastic.

"The investments announced today are directly in line with our strategic plan to focus our investments on two major sectors: packaging and tissue products. The goal is to increase the company's market share in the food packaging sector, by continuing to propose innovative products that ensure an optimal shelf life for food and reduce our environmental footprint," asserts Mario Plourde, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cascades.

At the Plastiques Cascades plant in Kingsey Falls, $3.5 million will be invested to replace a thermoforming line, add a pre-padding solution to the production line and install automated packaging lines. This will add more flexibility in production, increase throughput and drive plant profitability. These investments fall in line with the development strategy set out for the burgeoning food packaging industry. The updated facilities will also diminish the physical strain associated with certain packaging activities.

At the Cascades Inopak plant in Drummondville, $1million will be allocated to install a new thermoforming line. Adding this production line at the cutting edge of technology will increase both production capacity and quality.
According to Luc Langevin, President and Chief Operating Officer of the Specialty Products Group, these investments are part of a process of asset modernization at Cascades. They will boost productivity, while also allowing Cascades to better meet our customers' requirements and offer high-quality packaging. In the long term, this project will improve positioning in certain competitive market segments.

The Plastiques Cascades and Cascades Inopak plants are part of the Cascades Specialty Products Group. The plastics plant in Kingsey Falls produces polystyrene food trays with 25% recycled content used in the packaging of fresh food products such as meat, poultry and seafood. These trays are sent to processing plants and grocers. Cascades Inopak manufactures food packaging products and consumer goods made from polyethylene terephthalate with a minimum of 60% postconsumer recycled content. The plant specializes in the manufacture of barrier trays for fresh products such as meat and poultry.

In business for 52 years, Cascades produces, converts and markets packaging and tissue products that are composed mainly of recycled fibers. The Company has close to 11,000 employees, who work in more than 90 production units located in North America and Europe.