Coveris opens UK center of excellence for wicketted bags

Coveris has established a center of excellence for wicketted bags at its site in Hartlepool, UK, supporting the demand for bakery, produce, and sanitary packaging. The site has been developed as a key production facility for the company’s lightweight, recyclable formats.

Coveris’ MonoFlex Lite monomaterial films, available in PE, are an important part of its wicketted bag range at Coveris Hartlepool, according to the company. The bags are said to be compatible with chilled, frozen, and ambient temperatures and are proven on fast-paced packing lines.

David Humes, plant manager at Coveris Hartlepool, says: “With our new UK center of excellence and extensive capacity for wicketted bags, we support brands, manufacturers, and retailers with expert packaging and service.”

“Our capabilities in extrusion, print, and bag-making to brand and color management are backed by years of experience and technical understanding. This puts us in a strong position to meet seasonal demands, product-specific requirements, packaging legislation, and sustainability targets within bakery, produce, and personal hygiene markets for wicketted bags.”

Environmentally responsible packaging

The site adopts a vertically integrated production model and benefits from Coveris’ in-house extrusion, reprographics, platemaking, printing, and conversion, reducing lead times, improving service responsiveness, and driving technical developments.

With up to eight-color flexo print, Coveris’ wicketted bags feature visual shelf appeal with functional designs, including bottom gussets, captive flaps, and resealable closures. The bags can be supplied with Coveris’ Freshlife technology that extends product shelf life and reduces food waste.

Apart from food and personal hygiene packaging products, the Hartlepool site also provides banking, healthcare, and medical diagnostics, mailing, security, and e-commerce sectors with performance speciality bags.

“Closing the loop in plastic packaging, the site processes production waste from Coveris and its customers to produce high-quality recycled resin for use in non-food contact formats, fully compliant with the UK Plastic Packaging Tax,” says the company.

Coveris Hartlepool holds a Gold EcoVadis sustainability rating and an AA+ BRCGS Packaging Materials Issue 7 certification. Coveris is enhancing sustainability in wicketted bag manufacturing through its ReCover Louth de-inking and recycling facility.