The Smurfit Kappa Group has announced a "major investment" 24 million in its 135-employee corrugated cardboard plant in Rethel in the Ardennes.
The Dublin, Ireland-based packaging manufacturer plans to expand its French site, which is one of the group's 60 or so facilities in France. It will combine its two existing facilities on a total of about 20,000 m2 and install a new corrugator and converting machine in the new 8,200m 2 specially designed for this equipment.
By eliminating trips between the two existing buildings, this investment will reduce CO2 emissions by at least 150 tons per year.
Completion of this project is scheduled for 2023. And the first phase of the project - the installation of the new corrugator - is expected to be completed in the first half of 2022.
"Smurfit Kappa's ambition to strengthen its position in France continues with this important new investment, commented Edwin Goffard, COO of Smurfit Kappa Europe Corrugation and Converting. This investment will allow us to continue our growth and improve our quality of service to the food and industrial markets we serve."
Jean-Christophe Bugeon, CEO of Smurfit Kappa France, said: "This investment will not only increase the capacity of our facility, but it will also help us address the ever-increasing environmental issues facing our planet by significantly reducing the plant's carbon footprint."
