Sonoco Expands Waynesville Thermoforming Facility

HARTSVILLE, S.C., Oct. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Sonoco (NYSE: SON), one of the largest diversified global packaging companies, announced today that it has completed an 18,000-square-foot expansion at its Waynesville, N.C., thermoforming location, where it will start up a new multilayer, trim-in-place line. This new machine will enable the production of a wide variety of containers with the added capability of complex shapes for chilled foods, as well as thermally processed shelf stable food products. In addition to the new line, the Waynesville location has added capacity through plant consolidation efforts. As a result of the new line and added capacity, 33 new employees have been hired.

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According to Rodger Fuller, vice president of Rigid Plastics, Sonoco's new line is being installed now and will be ready for full production in December. "This investment in large-scale multilayer polypropylene production complements our existing capabilities for processed food packaging, which include crystallized polyethylene terephthalate (CPET) and polypropylene frozen food trays; portion control cups; and blow molded bottles for retorted and aseptically processed beverages," said Fuller. "Sonoco Plastics is a leader in designing and producing innovative, customized rigid plastic packaging for some of the largest food and beverage producers in North America. We look forward to expanding our offering through this new state-of-the-art production line and hope to further grow within this category in the future.

"Sonoco's packaging capabilities for processed food extend beyond plastics to include steam vent flexible bags, as well as retortable flexible pouches, closures and membranes. Our ability to produce barrier plastic trays rounds out our offering across the processed foods category."

Sonoco Plastics is a leading manufacturer of monolayer and multilayer blow-molded bottles and jars, thermoformed cups and trays and engineered molded and extruded containers, spools and trays, with 25 plastics operations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Ireland, Netherlands and Germany. To learn more, stop by our booth #S-1562 at Pack Expo.

About Sonoco
Founded in 1899, Sonoco is a global provider of a variety of consumer packaging, industrial products, protective packaging, and displays and packaging supply chain services. With annualized net sales of approximately $4.5 billion, the Company has more than 19,600 employees working in over 340 operations in 34 countries, serving many of the world's best known brands in some 85 nations. Sonoco is a proud member of the 2012/2013 Dow Jones Sustainability World Index. For more information on the Company, visit our website at www.sonoco.com.

SOURCE Sonoco