The Republic of Ireland meat tray manufacturer explained that its investment was aimed at helping it become “a major player in the rigid food packaging market”. On 26 January, McKenna told GlobalMeatNews that the Vacurema recycling system would help boost efficiency in a number of ways.
Longer production runs
“It will give us a lot more scale and more capacity to develop PET sheet and trays for the meat packaging industry,” he said.
“We will be able to upgrade our scale of post-consumer bottle flake and replace virgin polymer materials with recycled materials. [This means that] we will now be able to achieve longer production runs that will improve efficiency and throughput capabilities.”
McKenna was not able to provide information on how much the machine could save Quinn Packaging in the long run, conceding only that he hoped it would “improve our cost base”.
It is the first major investment by Quinn Packaging since new owners took control of the company and McKenna noted that further investments may be announced in the coming years.
The company has a 19,000sq m production facility in Ballyconnell, which sits on the border with Northern Ireland. With a workforce of around 140, the company manufactures a range of plastic packaging products. These include rigid packaging trays for meat and poultry products, as well as ready meal trays, mushroom punnets, dairy spread containers and thin gauge sheets.