PPG Hikes European Coatings Capacity
US paints and coatings company PPG has announced plans to expand its coatings capacity in Europe for packaging applications. The projects in the Netherlands and Poland will support growing customer demand for latest-generation coatings for aluminum and steel cans used to package beverage, food and personal care products.
Output of PPG’s Innovel non-bisphenol-A (BPA) internal coatings for beverage cans will rise by 30% at the company’s site in Tiel, the Netherlands. Completion is scheduled for the first quarter of 2022. The project follows a 50% capacity expansion at the site at the end of last year. According to PPG, Innovel is the most widely used, non-BPA internal beverage can spray technology in the world.
In addition, capacity for iSense coatings, which are applied to the exterior of metal cans used for beverage and personal care packaging, will double at Tiel by the end of 2021. The specialty overvarnish coatings provide sensory surface effects, including textured finishes.
Production will also double in Cieszyn, Poland, to support the growth of PPG’s Nutrishield line of non-BPA internal, food can coatings. This project is expected to be completed by the end of the third quarter this year.
Alessandro Borzino, PPG general manager, packaging coatings, Europe, Middle East and Africa, said the investments “demonstrate our long-term commitment to support our packaging customers across Europe and beyond.”
PPG also expanded packaging coatings capacity last year at its site in Bodelshausen, Germany, where it doubled production of the white lacquers used on the external surface of personal care and caps and closures packaging. In addition, the company expanded its R&D facility at the site, which PPG said now represents its European R&D packaging center of excellence. The center’s official inauguration will take place later this year.
Earlier this month, PPG closed its purchase of Finland’s Tikkurila. Following completion of the deal, Tikkurila’s president and CEO Elisa Markula tendered her resignation in order to take up a CEO role at an undisclosed company. The effective date of her resignation has yet to be announced. However, PPG has appointed Tikkurila’s chief financial officer Markus Melkko as interim CEO with immediate effect.
Author: Elaine Burridge, Freelance Journalist
