Packaging company Sealed Air has joined forces with Japanese firm Kuraray for a project to produce plant-based food packaging.
Sealed Air will spend $24 million to upgrade its facility in Simpsonville, South Carolina, to make materials made from Kuraray’s Plantic brand plant-based resin and post-consumer plastic. The expansion is underway and production is scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2020.
To support this work, Kuraray is investing approximately $15 million to install plant-based high barrier resin production and supporting capabilities in Houston, Texas. The resin plant is scheduled to be completed at the end of September 2019 and will begin operating in early 2020.
In June 2018, Sealed Air and Kuraray America entered into an agreement to offer Plantic materials to package perishable foods such as poultry, beef and seafood in the US, Canada and Mexico.
As upgrades to both facilities progress, Sealed Air, under the agreement with Kuraray, will continue to serve customers in North America by importing materials from Plantic Australia.
Sealed Air CEO Ted Doheny said: “This collaborative effort with Kuraray expands our ability to deliver innovative, sustainable food packaging solutions that leave our world, environment and communities better than we found them.
“This investment also helps us reach our commitment to deliver 100% recyclable or reusable packaging offerings, and 50% average recycled content across all packaging solutions by 2025.”
Katsumasa Yamaguchi, Kuraray general manager of the global EVAL division, added: “Kuraray continues to pioneer proprietary technology to develop new fields of business, grow globally and improve the environment.
“We are looking forward to this collaborative investment with Sealed Air, which allows us to produce and offer a high-performing plant-based packaging option to the food industry on a much larger scale.”
Last month, Sealed Air acquired Philippines-based packaging producer MGM to expand its printing and lamination capabilities and better serve customers throughout the Asia Pacific region.
