Cascades invests $9M in New Jersey packaging plant

Canadian paper and packaging producer Cascades has invested another $9 million into its corrugated packaging converting facility in Piscataway, New Jersey, to purchase a printing press it says will further its growth in the Northeast.

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The Kingsey Falls, Quebec-based company opened the $76 million Piscataway converting facility in 2018 to manufacture products from linerboard and medium mostly made of recycled fiber. Upon its opening, the plant had an annual production capacity of about 2.4 billion square feet, and the addition of the Mitsubishi EVOL press increases that capacity by 17 percent—the equivalent of an additional 480 million square feet.

“The purchase of an EVOL press, one of the fastest technologies in the world, will allow us to continue our growth in the Northeast and increase our ability to serve our current and future customers,” Cascades President and CEO Mario Plourde says. “This $9 million investment is part of our 2022-2024 strategic plan and is aimed at increasing our integration rate by adding additional converting capacity in the United States.”

Cascades says its Piscataway site, which currently serves the distribution and food processing markets, is one of the company’s newest and most modern facilities in its asset base. The EVOL press is the plant’s sixth printing press and is expected to be installed by the end of April.

Currently, the plant has 178 employees, and the installation of the new press will require the hiring of an additional 20 people.