Gateshead packaging manufacturer iPac has invested £713,000 and created 22 jobs to drive production of a new recycled plastic product.
The family run firm, which makes trays for the food and pharmaceuticals industries, has received a £200,000 capital investment grant from The Growth Fund, part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
It will support development of iPac's iCard product - a type of packaging made up of more than 85% recycled plastics, which in turn can be recycled unlike mixed material alternatives.
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Managing director Jonny Catto explained that some manufacturers have created mixed material products - such as laminated card - in a bid to meet sustainability demands and win over consumers.
He said: “The issue with many of these products is you take a fully recyclable plastic tray and replace it with a mixed material tray, which is very difficult to recycle.
“We are firmly of the opinion that the most sustainable packaging for food products is recycled plastic. As long as you’re getting a good proportion of recycled content into it – ours is over 85% – and the packaging is also easy to recycle then that, for us, is the way forward.”
The iCard is a thinner plastic tray supported by a cardboard surround, which easily separates to be recycled. The packaging does not use any laminates or adhesives that would make this difficult or contaminate the recycling process.
Newcastle-based chartered accountancy and business advisory firm UNW signposted iPac to The Growth Fund to help the company with its ambitious project, which required new machinery, tooling, ancillary equipment, staffing and a fully integrated Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system to address the added complexity of the product and start full-scale production.
The thermoforming machinery can be used to provide extra capacity for the company’s existing products and will automate the iCard assembly process.
Mr Catto added: “Because it’s a new project, it’s quite innovative and different for us, and there’s an element of risk with it. I don’t think we would have quite had the confidence to push the button on this without having that risk mitigated."
Production of iCard has been delayed by cardboard supply shortages, but iPac has used to intervening time wisely.
Mr Catto added: “It’s pushing us to backfill that capacity with other work and allowed us to grow in other areas.
“Although the start of the iCard production might be slightly delayed, the associated growth and job creation isn’t, so that’s been a benefit to the whole business.
“We’re a young company at four years old and this project is all part of an exciting growth journey. We’re now supplying about 350million trays a year into the food sector and looking to grow that to increase our market share.”
The Growth Fund senior project manager, Mike Baker, said: “iPac’s innovative solutions that respond to changing needs are a great example of the kind of project that we are looking to support.
"I would encourage any company with an ambition to grow through a capital investment project to get in touch.”
