Quinn Packaging has announced plans to invest over €3m in a PET sheet extrusion line at its operations in Ballyconnell, Co Cavan.

The company makes a range of packaging products for the food industry, including dairy spread containers, mushroom punnets and meat and poultry trays. It also provides flexible packaging that is used in the industrial and agricultural sectors, including silage wrap and shrink and stretch hoods.

A PET sheet extrusion line produces thermoplastic sheets; which is the material used for packaging.

General manager of Quinn Packaging Mark McKenna said the investment will enable the company to become “a major player in the rigid food packaging market”.

The investment will also provide additional capacity to further develop the PET sheet and meat tray business; when the machine is fully commissioned by the middle of the year.

New jobs

The company already employs over 140 people. Mark McKenna also added that “there will be some new jobs both directly and indirectly. However, there is no exact number until the line is fully commissioned.”

This is the first major investment of Quinn Industrial Holdings Ltd (QIHL), the company which acquired the Quinn Packaging and Construction Industry Supply business in December 2014.

QIHL itself acquired the packaging divisions from Aventas, the company which took over after the Quinn family lost control of the group five years ago, with outstanding debts of around €2.8bn.

The machine is expected to be operating by September this year.

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