Equipment

Elliotts Absorbent Products, the Rochdale-based manufacturer of food contact materials, has opened a £1.3m coatings plant in Littleborough, Lancashire.

The 1,500 sq metre facility has been built to meet the European Standard for the Protection of Food Contact Materials.

The plant houses a purpose-built laminator, which can bond a variety of filmic and paper substrates to an allied and large mix of non-wovens and airlaids. It is webbed to laminate up to 1.7 metres and bond at more than 200 linear metres a minute.

Managing director Matt Hankins said: "This new facility gives us both independence of supply for food pad materials, and also a large platform to offer specialised substrates for the emerging markets in biodegradable, ovenable and medical markets."

The investment is the first stage of a three-year expansion programme.