Pactiv Evergreen is permanently closing a facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and laying off 153 employees.
The company filed a worker adjustment and retraining notification with the state on Feb. 4, which noted the job eliminations at the food and beverage packaging production site will be permanent. Layoffs are expected to begin April 11 and be completed by June 13.
Pactiv’s website lists one other plant in Michigan, also in the Kalamazoo area. That facility is not included in the closure. Both sites became Pactiv’s in 2021 when the company bought Fabri-Kal, a food service and consumer brand packaging company.
The WARN document lists the legacy company name Evergreen Packaging, which merged with Pactiv — two Reynolds Group Holdings companies — in 2020 to form Pactiv Evergreen.
During the company’s Aug. 1, 2024, earnings call, CEO Mike King detailed $15 million in cost-cutting measures to drive growth, such as through layoffs and spending curtailment. That’s in addition to the footprint optimization plan Pactiv announced six months prior, which King estimated would affect about 10% of the 100-facility footprint and generate $35 million in cost savings by 2026.
In October, the company sold its mill in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and another in Waynesville, North Carolina, to Brazilian pulp and paper company Suzano.
Novolex is in the process of acquiring Pactiv Evergreen for $6.7 billion in cash. That deal is expected to close in the first half of this year.
Pactiv Evergreen did not respond to a request for comment.
