Plasticband, a manufacturer of machinery and consumables for packaging, will allocate 1.2 million euros to the construction of a new building in the industrial complex located in Granollers, to increase the manufacturing of one hundred percent sustainable products. The investment will increase the manufacturing area of the Catalan brand to 5,000 square meters, and the number of employees will rise from 50 to 100 once the new facilities become operational, presumably by the end of 2022.
The project is driven by the constant increase in international demand and demand from large companies for the Eco 245 strapping product, the first ecological strapping made from renewable resources, manufactured one hundred percent with recycled material and that can be reused, which it launched on the market at the end of 2020. "The new plant will allow us to multiply the production of ecological strapping and build a new space to deploy large packaging lines and show customers what their product will look like before they receive it," explains Jordi Guimet, general director of Plasticband. Currently, the production of Eco 245 strapping is 100 tons per year and the company expects to reach 800 tons per year.
The construction of the new building and the launch of this strapping, manufactured with solar energy and reusing 100% of rainwater at the Granollers plant, is part of the strategic plan Plasticband is green, an ambitious project by the family business to become one of the greenest production plants in Southern Europe. The global sustainability project will be progressively implemented to foster innovation in environmentally friendly products. Guimet specifies that the company's long-term goal is "to achieve zero environmental impact, a challenge in which we have already achieved a high percentage in some vectors."
Therefore, the roofs of the new factory will allow collecting 100% of the rainwater that will be used for production, cisterns, and garden ditches. In addition, it will have solar panels to supply the factory's operation during the day, since production is ongoing 24 hours a day and energy cannot be accumulated. The building, which will be constructed with wood and other environmentally friendly elements, will also include an underground parking lot adapted for electric cars.
Innovation will also have a specific weight within the new space where a technical office for the design of sustainable packaging machinery with 4.0 technology, an engineering area, and a 300 square meter workshop for after-sales service will be located.
The company, which manufactures a complete range of packaging products, from strapping to strapping machines and wrappers, has been in Granollers since 1999, and was created in 1978 by entrepreneurs Jordi Guimet and Miquel Sisó. Currently, with a high level of internationalization, it exports 92% of the manufactured machinery and 50% of consumables worldwide.