Huhtamaki unveiled a 900,000 sq. ft. facility in Batavia, Ohio, adding hundreds of jobs to the local economy and positioning the company as a significant player in the Foodservice packaging industry in 2013.
Now, more than a decade later, the company continues to grow while keeping a sharp eye on the safety of its employees and sustainability.
With currently employed at the facility, Batavia recorded its best year from a safety standpoint, leveraging a firmly rooted safety culture. The facility produces and distributes a wide range of foodservice packaging products using paper and plastics, as well as a large-scale warehouse. The size of the facility and variety of products calls for a strong effort to maintain safety and the team is up to the task.
“Onboarding is critically important to safety,” Judy Filson, EHS Manager and top safety advocate, said. “We want every single employee to understand from the beginning when we say safety is the top priority, it is not just something we say. Safety is number one and it will always be number one.”
The safety culture in Batavia extends to every corner of the facility through education, ongoing training, facility improvements and in the actions of every employee. It provides reassurance not only to the employees, but to their families as they know their loved ones will come home safe. The safety culture moves forward under the slogan “Think Safe. Work Safe. Home Safe.”
Landfills not needed
The excellent work does not stop with safety as company employees regularly donate their time to worthy causes in the area and support local training and education efforts.
Huhtamaki’s Batavia facility boasts an impressive record of giving back to the community, but there is one area where they have done absolutely zero giving lately — the landfill. Batavia rolled through the entire fourth quarter of 2024 where they did not send any waste to the landfill.
“We actually have three other facilities within Huhtamaki that have accomplished zero waste for more than a year and they have served as great leaders for us,” Bill Eberhardt, World Class Operations Manager said. “We work to separate our waste into recycling, materials that can go to waste-to-energy facilities and now we are working with all employees to help maintain this momentum and learn how we can recycle even more.”
Huhtamaki facilities in Marion, Ind., Fulton N.Y., and Lewiston, Maine, all worked their way past one year of zero waste to landfill. Additionally, Huhtamaki is working with the Sporting Kansas City Major League Soccer club to make their stadium zero waste to landfill.
If anyone needs further proof look no further than Huhtamaki’s global company homepage where the company states its intentions. “Our ambition is to be the first choices for sustainable packaging solutions globally.”
This is all part of a company culture built on the values of CARE DARE DELIVER.
Batavia wants to add you to their team today. Visit us.huhtamaki.com/careers, click Search Openings and navigate to Batavia Ohio to see how you can join the team!