Message from the President TOPPAN USA

We are already a month into 2019. I am sure that everyone is striving to achieve their New Year’s resolutions with new resolve. It will soon be three years since Toppan invested $100 million in its new plant and started production in Griffin, Georgia, in April 2016. There was some concern regarding the growth of the market when we made the decision to establish a plant in the U.S. exclusively for barrier film. However, with the flexible packaging industry in good health and growing demand for barrier film, production volume has grown to about double that of the first year and our line is in operation around the clock.

As everyone is already aware, the packaging market is facing a huge transition. It is almost certain that 2019 will be a year in which the industry will be expected to pursue sustainability and full-scale measures to conserve the environment, not simply better packaging design, functionality, convenience, and cost.

This movement, stemming from the problem of marine pollution, also brings significant change to barrier film manufacturers. Many major global companies have announced environmental policies, and alliances assembling major suppliers like us have been launched.

Toppan USA needs to supply high barrier films that satisfy environmental requirements in partnership with the converters who are our customers.

Thus far, the main product line of our transparent high barrier GL FILM has been PET based. Last year, we brought a new oriented polypropylene (OPP)-based barrier film to market, and this year we are developing polyethylene (PE)-based barrier film to cater to demand for mono-material packaging.