MeadWestvaco plans to close Pine Brook packaging plant

Production at the facility would transfer to other MeadWestvaco healthcare packaging plants.

29/09/05 MeadWestvaco Corporation has announced that it will discontinue operations at its packaging plant in Pine Brook, New Jersey. The facility converts bleached paperboard into folded, printed cartons, and prints labels and inserts for pharmaceutical and healthcare products.

Production at this facility will transfer to other MeadWestvaco healthcare packaging plants, and the company's capacity to supply these products will not be affected. The closure of this facility, expected by December 31, 2005, will enable MeadWestvaco to increase efficiency through cost reduction and productivity improvement, and strengthen its competitive position by maximizing production and distribution capabilities.

The closure of the Pine Brook plant will result in the elimination of approximately 130 positions.  All affected salaried employees will receive termination benefits, including financial assistance, benefits coverage and outplacement assistance, as part of the transition.  Termination benefits for union employees will be negotiated with the appropriate union.

MeadWestvaco's Consumer Packaging Group is a leading supplier of packaging to the pharmaceutical/healthcare industry and is the world's leading supplier of media packaging, serving the music, video, multimedia, software, electronic games, and disk media promotions markets. It is also a leading producer and distributor of premium packaging for the cosmetics, personal care, and other consumer-product markets.