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Smurfit Kappa has signed an agreement to acquire Spanish bag-in-box packaging facility, Pusa Pack. Located near Castellón in the Valencia region, the Pusa Pack facility manufactures large-capacity flexible bags ranging from 200 to 1500 litres. The bags are used for the storage and transport of bulk food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and other liquid and semi-liquid products. Since 2002, Smurfit Kappa Bag-in-Box has supplied big-capacity bags and corrugated cardboard containers from its sales office in Liquiwell, Germany. The deal will see Pusa Pack become integrated into Smurfit Kappa’s bag-in-box operations in Spain. Thierry Minaud, CEO of Smurfit Kappa Bag-in-Box, said: “Heavy-duty packaging is evolving towards more environmentally friendly solutions. We increasingly see the trend of companies moving away from plastic or stainless steel intermediate bulk containers (IBC) in favour of much more sustainable corrugated solutions, which have a considerably lower carbon footprint.” He continued: “It makes perfect sense – if we compare a Smurfit Kappa IBC made of fully recyclable, biodegradable and renewable corrugated with a rigid plastic container, we see an 87% reduction in plastic weight, significant supply chain optimisation, elimination of cleaning requirements and shelf life extension for the product when aseptic filling technology is applied”. Pascual Martinez, general manager of Smurfit Kappa Bag-in-Box Ibi, added: “This acquisition will strengthen Smurfit Kappa’s Bag-in-Box portfolio and create strong supply chain and market synergies between the two companies. This acquisition will also be of great benefit for customers, especially those who have demand for bag-in-box solutions in different formats, for example, retail and industrial use.” Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.