Europal builds new corrugated board and packaging plant

Image courtesy: Europal

Europal, the Belgian supplier of corrugated cardboard packaging solutions, will invest several million euros in the construction of a new plant in Tournai.

The new state-of-the art factory will be fully operational by the summer of 2020. The current factory in Moeskroen, including its staff, will be retained. It will serve as a Design & Experience Centre, on the one hand, and as a production unit for speciality products, on the other. This will raise its general processing capacity to 110,000 metric tons.

With the DI Group, the Flemish family Dejager is the foremost shareholder of Europal. ‘The reason for this investment is to prepare Europal for the future and therefore substantial growth’, says CEO Patrick Dejager, who runs the company together with his daughter Valentine. ‘Europal will become less dependent on its suppliers of raw materials (corrugated cardboard) and therefore opts for vertical integration. This will enable the company to live up to its slogan, fastest boxmaker, better than ever before.

In addition to the conventional grades, the site will focus on heavy-duty corrugated cardboard for export packaging and octabins. The site will also produce endless corrugated cardboard for e-commerce applications, among others. Europal technology will enable e-commerce players to strongly optimise their packaging and shipping volumes.

The greenfield site in Doornik will respond to the latest demands imposed by Industry 4.0. and will therefore perform a great feat in terms of technical innovation that will guarantee new applications. Everything must comply with the standard of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP). Europal also aims to set the highest standards in the sector in terms of logistics (thanks to the company’s highly automated multi-story warehouse), ecology (1 megawatt solar panels) and innovation (with a series of new products). 

Last but not least, the investment in Doornik, which will comprise millions of euros, will also provide new employment opportunities through the creation of approximately 40 high-tech jobs, for which a recruitment campaign has already been launched. ‘We are looking primarily for employees with a background in technology and machine operators’, continues Patrick Dejager.