Linpac invests £1.2M in food packaging kit

“The investment is the largest to be made by Linpac in the UK this year,”​ according to the firm. “And it will also boost the local economy by creating an additional 20 roles at the site.”​

The investment will be used to upgrade existing extruders and thermoformers to improve the quality, environmental benefits and cost effectiveness of packs, said the business.

10 thermoformers​

Once the upgrading is complete, St Helens will have four extrusion lines and 10 thermoformers in operation and three reclaim units.

Linpack UK operations manager Mick Wood said: “This major investment demonstrates our commitment to the foodservice market here and overseas. We are working towards a major upgrade to our manufacturing capabilities. ​

“This will ensure that we can offer our customers both market leading quality and increased capacity to service their needs. This will give us an increased competitive edge in an important market for Linpac.”​

The firm is the UK’s largest manufacturer of EPS packaging. St Helens in Lancashire is the company’s main manufacturing site of EPS based products for the national and European foodservice markets.

Fast food boxes, trays and pizza discs​

Lines included: fast food boxes, trays and pizza discs.

Conventional heating systems were being upgraded to infrared systems, via the addition new Ceramicx ovens on the site’s thermoformers.

The improvement was expected to cut the overall carbon footprint of the Linpac EPS product range by helping to achieve a 40% reduction in average energy consumption.

Linpac operated across a network of 14 manufacturing sites and serviced 71 countries.