Fabulous at fifty! KP Featherstone celebrates 50th anniversary

Packaging Solutions

Klöckner Pentaplast is celebrating the 50th year of its Featherstone plant in West Yorkshire – formerly Linpac Packaging.

Established in 1969 Linpac Packaging began by making plastic boards and egg boxes and has evolved its product offering over the last five decades to making sustainable food packaging made from 100% recycled polyester (rPET) that can be recycled again into more protective recyclable packaging.

In June 2017, KP acquired Linpac Packaging, owned by the same private equity partners making the merger of the businesses complementary to one another, expanding the product portfolio and business offering across a number of other consumer industries, including the pharmaceutical market.

Featherstone’s 28 acre site was the first plastics manufacturer in the former Linpac group following the creation of Lincolnshire Packaging in Louth, Lincolnshire ten years earlier. The company was set up to produce packaging for local fresh food producers from paper and corrugated card.

Now operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, it runs 361 days a year, employing over 200 people locally, with 76 of those boasting more than 20 years’ service with the company.

Producing innovative, sustainable and recyclable packaging for fresh food, including meat, fruit and vegetables, bakery products, food service and food to go, KP also provides knowledge and expertise in marketing, design and technology.

The site has been making its products using a considerable amount of recycled post consumer polyester (rPET) since January 2017, the equivalent to three billion PET bottles. It is also a world class site when it comes to certifications and standards including BRC (British Retail Consortium), ISO:14001, ISO:9001, as well as being a signatory to Operation Clean Sweep, ensuring no leakage of plastic flakes go into the local environment.

One employee who has reached over 20 years’ service at Featherstone is Adam Barnett – now president of the Food Packaging division of Klöckner Pentaplast. Adam said, ‘The heritage of Featherstone really is something to celebrate – built on a family owned business with many generations working here. The site has been the foundation of many peoples’ careers which we have watched grow and celebrated as they have progressed to other areas of the business.

‘As a business it has been a massive success and much of that success is down to the fantastic people who have worked and continue to work here. We are world leading in what we do, and we are immensely proud of our innovation – leading the way in developing 100% recyclable products, turning the tide on valuable used plastic being wasted, rather than recycled. The site is dear to a lot of peoples’ hearts both employees and the local community.’

Globally the company employs more than 6200 people with 32 plants in 18 countries, has a revenue of €2 billion and operates in Europe, America, Russia, Asia and Australia serving customers in over 70 countries.