Page 8 - Packaging News magazine Sep-Oct 2022

NEWS
Opal invests $140m in packaging plant
OPAL GROUP, ONE of ANZ’s larg- est paper and fibre packaging manufacturers, is making a major investment to construct a high speed manufacturing facility for cardboard packaging in regional Victoria.
The new facility is a strategic investment by parent company Nippon Paper Group, enabling Opal to meet increasing market demand for corrugated cardboard packaging. The total $140 million investment includes the cost of the land, facil- ity construction, and the technology and equipment – a mix of locally and internationally sourced kit that will fit out the plant.
Present at the sod-turning cer- emony at the greenfield site, Opal CEO Matt Iizuka said this is a significant investment Opal is making in modern manufactur- ing in regional Victoria.
“Opal operates a fully integrated value chain in sustainable fibre packaging. The new facility will allow us to supply growing markets and better serve the developing needs of our customers,” he said.
Opal executive GM – Packaging, Chris Daly, told PKN
that Opal wanted to establish a regional presence to complement its existing infrastructure in key national centres.
“As a major manufacturer in Australia and New Zealand, Opal is committed to driving growth in sustainable packaging and this is an opportunity for the fibre divi- sion to lead this change,” Daly said.
The project will be undertaken in two stages. Stage One of the facility development involves the construction of a highly automated,
sophisticated 47,000m2 manufac- turing site, located at the Logic Wodonga industrial estate at Barnawartha. Stage Two will see the extension of the facility’s supply capacity to meet growth in demand, through emerging technologies.
Stage One construction is expected to start in August, with plans for the installation and com- missioning phase to be completed by the third quarter of 2023.
Daly said sustainability will play a key role in the design of the
IN A MAJOR step forward for Pact Group’s onshore circular plas- tic initiatives, the company will
partner with Woolworths Group to manufacture and supply recy- cled packaging for products in Woolworths’ own brand range.
The partnership will see both companies accelerate their respective sustainability drives and help grow the Australian recycling industry to meet future demand for recycled plastic.
For Pact this has already involved substantial investment in several plastic recycling facilities, and a commitment to creating what CEO and MD Sanjay Dayal refers to as a “truly local circular economy for plastics”. Developing end markets and finding buyers for the recycled plastic it manufactures is key to supporting this investment.
The product packaging manu- factured by Pact for Woolworths
Left: At the site of Opal's proposed manufacturing facility: (L-R) Wodonga Mayor Kev Poulton, Matt Iizuka, Opal CEO, and Chris Daly, Opal executive GM
– Packaging.
facility via solar energy generation and water harvesting capability.
“The new plant will feature enhanced supply chain capabili- ties and advanced manufacturing, and will align with Opal’s circu- lar economy approach through the local production of recycled and recyclable fibre packaging.”
Daly said expectations are that once the plant is fully operational, volume capacity will be north of 160 million square meters of card- board per annum. ■
will include milk bottles, meat trays, fruit and vegetable punnets, and beverage bottles.
Pact will source recycled PET resin from its recycling facili- ties in Australia, including the recently opened recycling plant in Albury-Wodonga, which has the capacity to recycle around one bil- lion 600ml PET bottles a year.
Recycled HDPE resin will also be sourced from local facili- ties, including a new plant under construction in Melbourne in part- nership with Cleanaway Waste Management, which will have capacity to process more than 20,000 tonnes of plastic waste – or the equivalent of over half a billion plastic milk bottles and food tubs.
In addition, Woolworths plans to scale up the use of Pact’s reusable plastic produce crates, increasing usage from approximately 50m to 80m crates a year. ■
Pact and Woolies to partner
Circular boost: (L-R) Pact CEO & MD Sanjay Dayal, NSW Environment Minister James Griffin, and Woolworths executive Rob McCartney.
8 ❙ SEPTEMBER – OCTOBER 2022
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