The second SIG production plant for aseptic carton packaging in China is now up and running, despite challenges posed by the pandemic.
The large-scale project has been successfully carried out, which the packaging group says is a testament to its commitment to engineering excellence and sustainability leadership.
Asia Pacific Region
The new plant is located close to SIG’s existing production facility at the Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP), which allows for shared resources in both production and operations.
The new facility is also close to SIG’s Asia Pacific Tech Centre, with innovation capabilities to bring a flow of new concepts and solutions to SIG customers.
Having the Tech Centre nearby ensures SIG can keep pace with new trends.
Samuel Sigrist, CEO of SIG, said, "The Asia Pacific region continues to be one of the major growth engines for aseptic carton packaging. The expansion of our production network will enable us to further strengthen our position in the growing Chinese market. It also means we can respond more quickly to the needs of our customers to provide holistic solutions to the food and beverage industry."
By building a second production plant in China, SIG is committed to serving the Chinese market by providing high-quality products and services to customers across the Asia Pacific region.
Earlier this year, the company announced plans to build a new packaging production plant in Queretaro, Mexico to provide better service in North America.
New Production Plant
The entire production process in the new plant is managed intelligently, which significantly improves operational and production efficiency.
The smart manufacturing system covers extrusion, printing, creasing, cutting, and sealing
By 2024, the new plant will cover an area of 120,000 square metres and is expected to have an annual production capacity of 8 billion carton packs.
It has been designed and built to have the lowest possible carbon emissions, with an artistic combination of classical Chinese garden and modern elements.
Photovoltaic panels on the roofs can provide 1.5 million kWh of solar energy and collected rainwater is also reused after treatment to save around 28,000 tonnes of tap water per annum.
In addition to energy-saving lighting devices, special lighting systems are installed to reduce electricity consumption.
The new plant’s environmental, safety, and operational performance has been recognised with a prestigious international industry certification: LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) gold certification for building design and construction.
LEED is a green building certification programme created by the US Green Building Council which is used worldwide.
SIG’s new packaging plant was the first plant in China’s aseptic packaging industry to be built in strict accordance with the LEED gold certification standard.
© 2021 European Supermarket Magazine. Article by Conor Farrelly. For more Packaging And Design news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
