Zummit Plastics Inc. is spending $10 million on a new stretch film manufacturing line in Phoenix, a project that will add 25 new jobs.

It's a move the company has thought would eventually come since beginning operations in Arizona in 2018 in an 85,000-square-foot building that currently has two manufacturing lines and room for two more.

The new project is being spurred on increasing environmental awareness among corporations and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Adrian Peredo, vice president of sales for Zummit.

In just the four years since Zummit started in Phoenix, Peredo said, the company has seen a marked change in views toward sustainable products.

Corporations that once declined to consider products such as Zummit's biodegradable stretch film due to a price premium are now embracing its use. COVID-19 also has society reconsidering what is best for the environment, he said.

Those changing views have created more and more demand for Zummit's biodegradable stretch film, which now makes up about half of the company's production. The other half is typical stretch film made without a biodegradable additive, Peredo explained.

"I can tell you at the very beginning, people were interested, but they didn't want to pay extra money for sustainability packaging," Peredo recalled.

"But now everything has changed with the pandemic. I see a lot of end users and distributors are moving forward in that direction. That's how we grow our output and are running more of this type of product," he said.

"I think it's a combination of service, quality, price competitiveness. That's why we are getting more output," Peredo said. "Customers are demanding more product. "

Zummit expects the new line to be shipped from manufacturer Colines in Italy by the end of May. The company is targeting start of production by the third quarter of this year.

"I can tell you at the very beginning, people were interested, but they didn't want to pay extra money for sustainability packaging," Peredo recalled.

Zummit, since beginning in Arizona, also has added a second manufacturing site in Columbus, Ga. That location currently has two stretch film lines.

The company uses the cast film extrusion process to make stretch wrap used by machines as well as by hand. The Bio-Zummit line of polyethylene stretch film will biodegrade under the right conditions in three to five years in a landfill setting, Zummit has said.

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