Ardagh Group’s new metal packaging plant is located in Broome Corporate Park in Conklin, New York, US. The plant was inaugurated in November 2010 after 14 months of ground-breaking in September 2009.
The plant originally belonged to Impress Group. In January 2011, Ardagh Glass Group acquired Impress for €1.7bn. The operations of Ardagh Glass and Impress will be combined under a new entity named Ardagh Packaging Group.
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Impress announced its plans to build the state-of-the-art plant in August 2008. The estimated investment in the plant was $30m. Located on a 12-acre site, the 91,000ft² manufacturing facility produces a range of metal packaging products for human and pet food. The plant is in phase I of production and specialises in easy open end (EZO) containers. The facility employs 65 people.
Construction of the packaging plant
The new packaging plant was constructed with a provision for future expansion that will eventually double the production rate and the number of employees.
The plant is an environmentally friendly LEED certified building, with high-efficiency interior lighting and solar-powered external lighting. About 65% of the building is composed of recycled material. The high solar-reflective level of the roof reduces the heat island effect.
Each day eight or nine trucks deliver raw materials and remove finished products and recyclable materials from the plant.
The plant is situated on a balanced site where soil is moved around, but not removed. The company says that the construction was carried out in such a way as to preserve the natural environment to the maximum extent possible. Only those green areas that are necessary for the construction of the building and its neighbouring paths were removed. The new building produces less noise and is earth coloured, enabling it to blend with the surrounding environment.
New York was chosen as the location of the new packaging plant as the area provided several advantages including support from the government, an able work force and ease of transportation.
Financing
Capital for the project came from various agencies. Empire State Development, the New York agency that provides aid and service to businesses to encourage economic investment in the state, provided $750,000. The Office for Small Cities, which deals with the Community Development Block Grant Program for the State of New York, also granted $750,000.
Broome County Industrial Development Agency, a public benefit corporation set up by the State of New York to foster economic activity in the area, provided $650,000 in loans and property tax assistance for the project.
The project is also eligible to obtain tax incentives through the New York state’s EZ Program, which was set up to induce economic growth through a variety of tax incentives to attract new businesses, and to help existing businesses expand and generate more jobs.
Impress background
Impress operated four can making plants in North America, at Terminal Island, California, Weirton, West Virginia, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania and Blacks Harbour in Canada. It also had operations in Western Samoa and Puerto Rico.
Impress manufactured containers for a wide range of products including seafood, aerosol and paint at the plants. It also produced heat-processed food cans, and containers for infant formula and nutritional powders.
The decision to build another plant in North America was driven by the growing demand for canned pet and human food, which consequently boosted demand for metal cans.
In June 2009, the shipments of canned pet and human food increased by 3% to reach $6.5bn.
