TC Transcontinental invests $60m to develop flexible packaging solutions

TC Transcontinental’s packaging unit TC Transcontinental Packaging has announced its plans to invest $60m to accelerate the commercialisation of recyclable flexible packaging solutions.

TC Transcontinental Packaging plans to use the funds to develop advanced mono-material recyclable flexible plastic packaging solutions to offer polyethylene films with more heat resistance.

The investment also includes ancillary equipment and a 120,000ft2 building expansion in the firm’s facility in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Additionally, the company will install a new advanced film line to make biaxially oriented polyethylene (BOPE). The line will be the first of a kind in North America, the packaging firm claimed.

TC Transcontinental president and CEO Thomas Morin said: “This new offering will be a game changer in TC Transcontinental’s recyclability journey, demonstrating our commitment to distinguish ourselves and gain market share with innovative sustainable solutions for our customers.

“Our offering aligns with our customers’ desire to accelerate speed to market with recyclable products that also protect and preserve their contents throughout their lifecycle, in addition to creating a more circular economy for plastic.”

This investment is already well underway and is expected to complete by the end of the 2024 fiscal year.

To supply the machinery for the BOPE film line, TC Transcontinental Packaging has chosen Brückner Group, a film manufacturing and technology firm. The line is said to be a 6.6m wide tenter frame extrusion line and will be installed in the Spartanburg facility.

TC Transcontinental Packaging is engaged in the development of sustainable products via investments in its R&D team and technologies.

The company has developed the vieVERTe sustainable product line that offers benefits like increased shelf life, lowered food waste, while offering product protection, and reducing environmental impact.

The packaging options offered by vieVERTe include those that are compostable, recyclable, and made from post-consumer recycled (PCR) materials, the packaging company said.