Cascades Inc., Canada, announced a $21 million investment in its Cascades Inopak (Drummondville) and Plastiques Cascades (Kingsey Falls) plants in order to acquire equipment that increases production of food packaging, primarily for the fresh protein market.

The Cascades Inopak plant will benefit from a $15 million investment, which will expand the existing building and install a high-performance rPET film manufacturing line, including a built-in, cutting-edge decontamination unit. This will make it possible to significantly increase the production capacity of Integral packaging, which is made from recycled PET, is recyclable and allows food in certain markets—such as fresh protein—to be kept for double the amount of time.

Nearly $6 million will be invested in the Kingsey Falls Plastiques Cascades plant to modernize equipment, notably by adding a new extrusion line and two recycling lines, which will increase the production capacity by 25% and double the plant's internal recycling capacity. The Kingsey Falls plant produces EVOK, what is dubbed as the first polystyrene foam tray in North America to contain at least 25% recycled materials.

"The strategic investments announced today will strengthen Cascades' position in the food packaging segment, by increasing our production capacity thus providing the tools to increase our market share. They will generate more than 10 new jobs, primarily in the production and sales sectors, and will consolidate the 216 jobs that already exist in these two units. We are particularly proud of the fact that we lend our recovery expertise to the food sector, and that we are taking the fight against food waste to yet another level," says Mario Plourde, president and CEO.

"In addition to our fresh protein containers, we are pleased to provide our customers with produce packaging that offers unique environmental added value. Cascades is the first company in North America to manufacture low-density PET packaging containing 80% recycled PET. Compared to the competition, we can reduce the quantity of materials by approximately 10% for each container made. In addition to using fewer resources, our products are recyclable and provide optimum performance," adds Luc Langevin, president and COO of Cascades Specialty Products Group.