A Glasgow-based company has unveiled a £15 million investment in the manufacture of an eco-friendly alternative to single use plastic packaging.

Cullen Eco-Friendly Packaging will develop an innovation and design hub and invest in an additional factory to meet soaring global demand for its moulded fibre and corrugated cardboard.

It says the self-funded investment will make it one of the biggest fibre packaging manufacturers in the world. The plan will create more than 120 jobs in Glasgow.

The expanded manufacturing facility grows the physical site to 14 acres and means Cullen can double its output to more than one billion pieces per year.

The products are everything from the ubiquitous supermarket avocado trays, coffee shop cup carriers and vital healthcare products made of moulded fibre created on site, to more intricate bespoke packaging that protects everything from fine wines to high end electrical equipment.

Global fast food chains, supermarkets, and major national healthcare services are driving a rethink in plastic packaging.

Earlier this year the Cullen team developed one of the world’s most innovative moulded fibre dry goods packaging products, The Fibre Bottle, of which the company produces 270m units per year.

The innovation enables brands producing goods such as vitamins, supplements, dry foods, homecare and horticultural products to remove 270m single-use plastic bottles or pouches from shelves annually.

David MacDonald, owner, said: “It’s hugely exciting. The world’s biggest companies, across multiple industries, are looking to moulded fibre to solve many of their sustainability challenges faster than seems possible.

“To win, they need disruptive thinking – brilliant design and inspired innovation – but they also need those new products made at scale.

“That’s the really hard part but we rise to that seemingly impossible and urgent challenge. Indeed, the expansion further enhances our ability, enabling Cullen to deliver more than one billion compostable and recyclable products per year.

“That makes us almost unique, globally, at helping to solve the biggest packaging challenges we’ve ever known.

“We have customers in over 34 countries, and our exports have tripled in the last five years. Across the whole business we have grown exponentially and expect that growth to continue at pace.

“I’m glad to be able to continue to increase game-changing capacity in our Scottish home. We have talent here, an incredible workforce, so are excited to create green careers that people can be truly proud of.”

Sian Sutherland, co-founder of A Plastic Planet said “In our work at A Plastic Planet, we encounter many groundbreaking organisations, but rarely do they have the experience, ambition, talent and innovation of Cullen.  

“They are the real deal; totally focused on the right metrics of success – people and planet before profit.   Cullen is a business that has the potential to eliminate billions of pieces of toxic, indestructible plastic and sees no limit to the positive impact they can drive. Ideas are a start, but implementation is everything. Cullen’s ability to scale rapidly and execute a big vision is extremely unusual”.