By Michael Lauzon
CORRESPONDENT
Published: November 21, 2013 5:23 pm ET
Updated: November 21, 2013 5:32 pm ET
An expanded polystyrene packaging and tableware producer is nearing completion of a $3.7 million expansion at its Easton, Pa., plant.
Ecopax Inc. has installed a new thermoformer and EPS foam extruder this month and expects the new machinery to reach capacity by the end of the year. Ecopax vice president of operations Christina Wong said her firm’s capacity will increase by 50 percent for single-use containers, trays, plates and bowls that it sells to food service institutions, supermarkets and other clients.
“The outlook is very positive for 2014 and beyond,” Wong said in a phone interview. “Although we were founded in 2007, the company really began to grow in 2010 and we have continued to grow rapidly.”
The machinery project follows a $2.15 million investment to add 75,000 square feet of space last year.
Ecopax expects to add 15 more employees as a result of the expansion. It now employs 71.
The latest expansion includes installation of six new storage silos.
Wong said her company is also developing paper products to complement its EPS items.
Ecopax is a family-owned company of which Wong is one of the owners.
The firm recently agreed to pay a $192,000 fine levied by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for alleged air emission violations from May 2008 to May 2011 when a regenerative thermal oxidizer wasn’t working properly. | 
