Amcor Rigid Plastics expands multilayer PP bottle capacity in Canada and the U.S.

Driven by what it calls “strong market demand”, plastic packager Amcor Rigid Plastics has announced a multi-million-dollar dollar capacity expansion of extrusion blow molded polypropylene (PP) bottle capacity in Canada and in the U.S. Midwest and Southwest.

According to an Amcor press release, the new capacity at the company’s production facilities in Brampton, Ont., Batavia, Ill., and Fort Worth, Texas is primarily for production of multilayer PP containers – a product line acquired in August 2010 from Ball Plastics Packaging Americas – along with HDPE containers with PCR content for personal care and household uses.

As part of the investment, Amcor has added 30 positions across the three facilities and also new production machinery and equipment.

“Since the acquisition [from Ball Plastics], we’ve taken a business rich in know-how and innovative technology to a new level,” said Laurel Spencer, vice president of marketing for Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Amcor Rigid Plastics North America, Diversified Products. “Our strategy is to invest in new manufacturing to support growth in leading markets while meeting the needs of our customers in these key regions.”

As part of its growth strategy in the food segment, Spencer continued, Amcor also recently added heat-set PET capacity (stretch blow molding) at its Wytheville, Va. facility to serve regional food customers.