Par-Pak making Canadian, international expansions

Rigid food packaging producer Par-Pak Ltd. is beefing up operations at its three manufacturing sites.

At its headquarters in Brampton, Ont., the firm has installed a new 40 million pound PET extrusion line and plans to add six high-speed thermoforming machines by year’s end. According to Glen Armstrong, Par-Pak’s vice president of sales, the Brampton expansion will cost the company approximately $20 million and create about 40 new jobs.

In Houston, Tex., Par-Pak will be moving from its 60,000-square-foot plant to a newly-purchased 95,000-square-foot facility nearby.

And in Milton Keynes, England, the company has purchased a 54,000-square-foot warehouse.

The three expansions serve two purposes, Armstrong told Canadian Plastics: adding capacity to help Par-Pak grow its PET preform business, and making it easier for the company’s products to fit into the recycling stream. “The expansions in Houston and England are moves to give us more warehouse space; and since we’re seeing good growth in PET performs, the expansions in Brampton allow us to continue to grow that business,” Armstrong said. “Also, major retailers are moving their thermoforms from oriented polystyrene into PET because it’s already the biggest recycled plastic in the form of bottles, and having a single, widely-used material makes recycling easier by simplifying the sorting process.” In June 2011, the so-called “Big Five” grocery chains in Canada – Wal-Mart Canada Corp., Loblaws, Safeway Canada, Metro, and Sobeys – announced plans to require their suppliers to shift to PET for clamshell thermoformed packaging.

Par-Pak’s plastic bakery, salad and deli containers are extruded from oriented polystyrene and thermoformed from PET.

Founded in 1977, Par-Pak is a privately-owned firm that employs about 650 people worldwide.