Amcor has announced the opening of a nearly $100 million packaging manufacturing plant in Huizhou, China.

The 590,000-square-foot facility, which is said to be China’s largest flexible packaging plant by production capacity, strengthens Amcor’s position in the Asia-Pacific region. The new facility will produce flexible packaging solutions for food and personal care products, employing more than 550 people.

The site comes equipped with China’s first automated packaging production line, which, along with high-speed printing presses, laminators and bag-making machines, can reduce manufacturing cycle times.

In addition, Amcor is deploying a smart production and operation system, which includes smart laser scanners, light curtains, high-standard machine guarding and multiple quality-control points. The facility also offers traceability throughout the production cycle, a climate-controlled environment and low-carbon-emission production.

The plant features three labs with innovative testing and analytical capabilities to help accelerate the development of responsible packaging solutions, as well as various sustainability features, including a Regenerative Thermal Oxidiser system to reduce harmful emissions. It also offers a number of energy reduction, heat recovery, low-power consumption and rainwater harvesting systems to support the reduction of the company’s carbon footprint and environmental impact.

“This investment is testament to our commitment to grow with our customers in China and throughout Asia Pacific by bringing the best of Amcor’s global expertise closer to them,” said Xin She, vice president and general manager of Amcor Greater China. “The world-class capabilities of our new plant are designed to enable us to exceed our customers’ expectations of quality, responsiveness and innovation.”