Dive Brief:

• WestRock broke ground on Thursday at the site of its new corrugated box plant in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. Company executives joined real estate developer Dermody Properties in holding a formal ceremony to commemorate the start of construction on the new $140 million plant, which it announced in January.
• This box plant will be a highly automated “superplant,” one of a handful the company will build globally, said WestRock CEO David Sewell during the ceremony. It is strategically located, he said, considering “the Midwest region here is a huge piece of where we do business.” 
• The more than 580,000-square-foot plant is “one of our largest investments this year” and is expected to open in April 2025, according to Sewell.

Dive Insight:

This is the second superplant for WestRock. The first, a boxmaking facility in Longview, Washington, opened in November 2023. The superplants are “incredibly sustainable” and “highly automated,” Sewell said, and they’ll have high-end equipment and workers.

Sewell told Packaging Dive that WestRock decided it makes more sense to have one larger scale, more modern superplant as a hub in certain highly populated areas that currently have multiple plants.

After the Pleasant Prairie plant opens, WestRock will close an existing facility in North Chicago, Illinois, about 20 miles away.

Development at the box plant campus involves constructing a rail spur to connect the site with the Union Pacific mainline as a means for WestRock to transport raw materials. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation says the spur offers the ability for more efficient and sustainable material transport with less railroad track needed, and it should spark further economic development. The state granted the project $885,000 in funding earlier this month, touting the potential for it to create 177 jobs.

Craig Thompson, secretary of WisDOT, said at the event that the development will allow WestRock “to establish itself in Kenosha County, while also attracting other businesses with rail infrastructure needs to the site.”

The Pleasant Prairie plant is an example of WestRock “leveraging the best equipment, technology and people to deliver excellent packaging and service to our customers, and support them in achieving their sustainability goals,” said Don Sparaco, senior vice president of corrugated packaging operations.