Amcor Rigid Plastics expands US bottle manufacturing operations

Amcor Rigid Plastics, the world’s leading producer of rigid plastic packaging, has announced a major expansion of its southeastern U.S. bottle manufacturing operation in response to strong market demand for beverage and pharmaceutical packaging. The $20 million expansion in Orlando, Fla. also enables Amcor to centralize preform manufacturing and warehousing while delivering key sustainability advantages including improved logistics and shipping efficiencies.

Amcor recently relocated from an existing 168,000 sq ft plant near the Florida Turnpike to a new leased 500,000 sq ft facility within the Airport Industrial Park of Orlando, just a few miles from the former location. The multi-million-dollar investment funded major infrastructure work to convert an unfinished shell structure into highly functional space for manufacturing, warehousing, and offices. The new facility - already up and running - is for production of hot fill and cold fill PET bottles for beverages such as sports drinks and orange juice, along with HDPE pharmaceutical containers.

Amcor formally unveiled the new facility during a grand opening celebration, attended by state and local officials. The company has operated as a bottle manufacturer in Orlando since 1979.

Amcor has already started to produce hot fill PET bottles and cold fill PET carafes for citrus beverages. The company has also started production of HDPE and LDPE containers. Amcor will manufacture a majority of its preforms in house at Orlando, thus eliminating the previous cost associated with shipping in preforms.

The new expanded facility will eliminate the need for three offsite warehousing sites. In terms of future expansion, Amcor also has room to increase manufacturing. The current expansion is expected to result in a net increase of 29 new jobs with employment reaching approximately 150 workers by next year, according to Amcor plant manager Mark Lambrite.