A Georgia company that specializes in corrugated box technologies continues to invest heavily in various operations across the United States.
In recent months, Pratt Industries has touted several initiatives, including the opening of a $700 million recycled paper mill and corrugated box factory in Henderson, Kentucky.
“It is the most technologically advanced and environmentally friendly paper mill ever built and will save the equivalent of 25,000 trees every day—more trees than are in New York City’s Central Park,” the company said in a statement in September.
The plant is part of a commitment to invest $5 billion in recycling and clean energy infrastructure in the U.S. over the next 10 years, said Anthony Pratt, executive chair of Pratt Industries, in a statement. Pratt, who is a native of Australia, also operates Visy Industries based in Australia. The combined annual sales of the two companies are more than $6 billion, the company reports.
Investment in the U.S.
Pratt Industries says it now has assets valued at $12 billion invested in the United States and has created about 12,000 manufacturing jobs.
The company also says it has built six of the past eight paper mills in the U.S. The new paper machine in Henderson—more than twice the length of a football field—will produce 1,500 tons of 100% recycled paper daily, the company says. The paper will then be made into corrugated boxes at Pratt’s converting plants across the U.S., including a new converting facility on the same site.
“We are transforming America’s recycling and manufacturing sectors through these initiatives,” Pratt said in a statement in September. “We’re actually in the landfill-avoidance business, which is good for greenhouse gas reduction, as well, because, as things decay in the landfill, they produce methane gas, which is 84 times worse for climate change than carbon dioxide. So, recycling is an important weapon against climate change.”
Pratt moved to the U.S. in 1991 to expand the family’s business operations, according to the company’s website. Pratt Industries now has more than 71 sites in 25 states.
Pratt Industries maintains it is the fifth largest corrugated packaging company in the U.S. Including the Visy operations, it is the world’s largest privately held producer of 100% recycled containerboard, the company says.
Other Projects
In addition to the Kentucky project, Pratt Industries has highlighted these initiatives in recent months:
- Earlier in September, the company said it is building a $120 million box factory in Georgia, with plans to hire 125 workers when the plant opens in 2024.
- In June, it opened a new $253 million box factory in Cedar Hill, Texas. It employs about 375 full-time workers, the company says. It is the company’s fifth box factory in Texas.
- The company also recently announced that it intends to invest $500 million and create hundreds of jobs at its facilities in Pennsylvania over the next 10 years.
Thomas A. Barstow is senior editor at FlexPackVOICE®.