A food packaging manufacturer is investing more than £50,000 in a new cooling system to drive efficiencies and reduce energy consumption.

PFF Group is investing the cash in a hybrid adiabatic cooling system at its Sedgefield site.

The system has been part supported by an RTC North £12,750 grant from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

The new cooling system will provide chilled water to PFF’s thermoforming machinery and other production processes, cutting carbon emissions, increasing cooling capacity and supporting a scale up of on-site production.

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PFF Group is one of the UK’s largest independent food packaging manufacturers and last year acquired Sedgefield-based Sirap UK, a leading producer and supplier of thermoformed rigid plastic food packaging to the UK market.

Ian Smith, sales director at PFF Group, said: “The new adiabatic cooling system uses an evaporative cooling process to harness the cooler ambient air temperature, providing free cooling for most of the year and saving up to 80 per cent of the carbon and energy generated by a traditional chiller.”

The system was supplied by Elland-based heating engineer Newsome.

Newsome sales manager, Chris Flynn, said: “We were delighted to be chosen by PFF, the UK’s leading food packaging manufacturers, to supply them with a new adiabatic cooler to help drive efficiencies and reduce energy consumption at their new Sedgefield site.

“Adiabatic coolers are a very cost and energy efficient way of providing medium temperature process water - over a 20-year lifespan, they can deliver up to 75 per cent cost saving.

"Many of our clients across multiple industries are choosing to switch to using adiabatic coolers, as they are a far more cost effective and eco-friendly cooling solution.”

The project was also supported by Scaleup North East and Supply Chain North East. Both programmes are an integral part of the North East Growth Hub, delivered across the region by RTC North, which has received more than £3m from the England ERDF which is part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020.

Jamie Ollivere, managing director for RTC North said: “This project demonstrates at firm level the investment small companies are making to drive growth in the UK economy and do so in a more sustainable way.

“It’s brilliant to hear stories like this and I’m glad RTC North can help both with industry expertise and where appropriate, funding for capital investment in a more sustainable and energy efficient way.”

PFF Group is a member of Made in Britain, an initiative which champions UK manufacturing.

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