Spartech Corp., a producer of plastic products, including polymeric compounds, concentrates, custom extruded sheet and rollstock, and packaging technologies, celebrated the grand opening of its new 90,000-sq-ft technology center in Maryland Heights, MO, on July 28, 2011.

Spartech began occupying the location last December, with new technical and market development resources and a number of employees relocating to St. Louis from former product development and material science centers in Indiana and Pennsylvania. The new facility, which makes extensive use of both sunlight and energy-efficient electrical lighting, contains areas where customers and Spartech scientists, technology and marketing experts, design engineers, and commercial development engineers can work alongside each other to find new ways of creating sustainable product solutions with less impact on the environment, says the company.

The grand-opening celebration kicked off with an employee open house event on July 23. As part of this event, Spartech partnered with the not-for-profit organization St. Louis Teachers' Recycle Center, which is dedicated to promoting an ethic of conservation and reuse of valuable industrial byproducts that would otherwise sit in a landfill for many years. The group also works with children to unleash their creative potential by using these recyclable materials so children may discover new and creative ways of thinking and solving problems.

On July 28, a grand-opening event was held for customers, supplier partners, shareholders, and the local community. It consisted of facility tours, lunch, and a presentation by Spartech CEO and president Vicki Holt, who outlined her vision for the company and how the new facility will be a key component in the future growth of Spartech.

Following Holt's presentation, attendees heard from Lindsay Beck, senior packaging engineer at ConAgra Foods who shared ConAgra's experience with implementing their sustainability efforts over the last several years. The event concluded with a ribbon-cutting event organized by the local Chamber of Commerce.

The new facility allows Spartech to house its core capabilities of material science expertise, processing knowledge, and creative design capabilities under one roof. The nearly $6 million facility includes compounding, extrusion, and thermoforming development lines; full physical, analytical, weathering, and burn testing capabilities; open work space for employees; and conference room space. The newest capability at the Technology Center is the Spartech IQ PKG™ design center, which focuses on innovative and sustainable packaging design. Lastly, the Technology Center has capabilities to conduct life-cycle analysis of the environmental footprint of all Spartech products.