Ireland-based corrugated packaging company Smurfit Kappa has revealed plans to modernise and expand its plant in Rethel, North-East France, with a €24m ($28.7m) investment.
The company will merge its two existing facilities at the plant and develop an 8,200m² building, in which a high-tech corrugator and conversion equipment will be installed.
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Smurfit Kappa Europe Corrugated and Converting chief operating officer Edwin Goffard said: “Smurfit Kappa’s ambition to strengthen its position in France continues with this significant new investment.
“This investment will allow us to grow further and improve our quality of service to the food and industrial markets that we serve.”
In addition to expanding the facility, the investment will help reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by at least 150t a year.
The project’s first phase involves installing the corrugator and is scheduled to be completed in the first half of next year. The entire project is expected to be completed in 2023.
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By GlobalDataSmurfit Kappa France CEO Jean-Christophe Bugeon said: “This investment will not only expand the capacity at our site, but it will also help us to tackle the ever-growing environmental issues our planet faces by significantly reducing the plant’s carbon footprint.”
Smurfit Kappa has announced multiple investments in its European facilities so far this year.
Last month, the company invested €20m ($23.9m) in four of its manufacturing plants across the Czech Republic and Slovakia to add to their converting capacity.
The facilities are located in Žebrák, Žimrovice and Olomouc, Czech Republic, and Štúrovo, Slovakia.
In April, Smurfit Kappa invested more than €25m ($29m) in its plant in Pruszkow, Poland, to install a high-tech corrugator and finished goods warehouse among other solutions.
The investment, part of the company’s capital investment programme, came after the company raised €660m ($774m) in equity capital last November.
