D&W Fine Pack announces multimillion-dollar technology investment

D&W Fine Pack, a Wood Dale, Illinois-based food packaging and foodservice disposables manufacturer, has announced a multimillion-dollar investment in sustainable technology at its Fort Wayne, Indiana, manufacturing facility to make food packaging products from 100-percent-recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

The company did not disclose the exact amount of the investment, but said its new extrusion technology is slated to debut in January.

“We are excited to expand our capability to run up to 100-percent-recycled material with flexibility between postconsumer and postindustrial … PET that conforms with FDA requirements,” D&W President and CEO Gary Rehwinkel says.

“The new infrastructure we are implementing to support this initiative will allow us to streamline the process, become more efficient and save energy,” Rehwinkel adds, noting the company expects 29 percent energy savings versus conventional technology.

D&W says the technology will allow it to incorporate a broader range of plastic flake and create food-grade PET sheet from plastics previously headed for landfill.

The Fort Wayne site is one of seven D&W manufacturing facilities, including Elk Grove Village, Illinois; Lake Zurich, Illinois; Fountain Inn, South Carolina; Gladwin, Michigan; Fort Calhoun, Nebraska; and Miami.