Lack of a key raw material is leading Pregis Corp. to close a plastic sheet foam plant in Kentucky in a move that will eliminate 79 jobs.
The plant in Wurtland, Ky., makes Microfoam-brand PP sheet foam. The plant is expected to close by the end of the year, company officials said in a WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) filed with the state.
In a statement sent to Plastics News, officials with Pregis in Deerfield, Ill., said that "the regretful decision to close … is due to the discontinuation of a key ingredient" needed to make the sheet foam, which is the only product made at the site. The company did not specify what the ingredient was.
"Despite exhaustive efforts to find a suitable replacement for the manufacturing component, we have been unable to do so, leaving us with no choice but to cease manufacturing operations for the Microfoam product line," the statement said.
Officials added that the decision "in no way reflects the performance of our Wurtland employees."
According to the Pregis website, Microfoam is a PP sheet foam that can be used as protective packaging in furniture wrap, food delivery bags and other applications. Pregis had made Microfoam since acquiring the site and technology from DuPont Co. in 1995.
The Microfoam business was originally part of DuPont Co. It was sold to Ametek Inc. in 1983, then to Astro Valcour Inc. in 1995. Tenneco Packaging bought Microfoam in 1997 when it purchased Astro Valcour. Tenneco Corp. then spun off its packaging unit in 1999, renaming it Pactiv, and Pactiv's flexible and protective packaging business became Pregis in 2005.
Pregis officials said in the statement that "as an organization, we are extremely growth focused as demonstrated by the opening of eight new U.S. facilities in the past two years and two new locations in Europe. … We continue to invest the 30-plus facilities in North America, including a Hopkinsville, Ky., facility."
"As a growth-focused organization, closing an operation and sunsetting a truly unique solution with such a respected history is a last resort," they added.
With estimated North American film and sheet sales of $605 million, Pregis ranks 12th in the most recent PN survey of film and sheet manufacturers. The firm employs more than 2,200 at 21 North American sites, as well as at production sites in Europe.
In September 2021, Pregis announced it would spend $32 million to expand blown film extrusion operations in Grand Rapids, Mich., including construction of 55,000 square feet of additional space.
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