A major construction milestone has been reached on a new manufacturing facility near Glasgow Airport.
The site is at Westway industrial estate in Renfrewshire. It will produce fibre-based bottles and is expected to create 36 local jobs once operational.
The project is being delivered by Robertson Construction Central West for sustainable packaging company Pulpex. This week, the steel frame forming the core structure of the building was completed.
The finished facility will cover around 87,000 square feet. When fully operational, it is designed to produce up to 50 million bottles a year.
The bottles are made from sustainably sourced wood fibre. They are designed to be recycled through normal household paper and card collections. Pulpex says the bottles have a lower carbon footprint than traditional packaging, with up to 90% lower emissions than glass and around 30% lower than PET, a common type of plastic used for drinks bottles.
Where possible, the steel used in the frame is “green steel”. This means it is produced using electric arc furnaces powered by lower-carbon energy sources.
Pulpex said the new site marks a move from small-scale testing to full production.
Scott Winston, managing director and chief science and sustainability officer at Pulpex, said the milestone showed what could be achieved through close collaboration. He said the team had shown “depth of skill, ingenuity and resilience” in reaching this stage of the build.
Andy McLinden, regional managing director at Robertson Construction Central West, said the project required a careful approach due to the new production process. He said reaching the milestone was an important step as the facility moves closer to operation and supports Pulpex’s next phase of growth.
Pulpex’s funding for the project includes investment from the National Wealth Fund and the Scottish National Investment Bank, alongside existing investors.
Headline Photo: From left: Calum Terry, senior quantity surveyor at Arctica; Kevin Morton, operations manager at Robertson Construction Central West; Richard Kelly, operations director at Robertson Construction Central West; Scott Winston, managing director at Pulpex; Kris McGurk, project manager at Robertson Construction Central West; Kirsty Wainwright, general manager at Pulpex Westway; and Adam Cooper, business support director at Pulpex, pictured inside the new facility as the steel frame is completed.