On June 15, Glatfelter held the grand opening of its state-of-the-art airlaid facility in Fort Smith, AR, which began operations earlier this year.

This is Glatfelter’s first newly-constructed facility and Advanced Airlaid Materials’ first facility located within the United States. It is the company’s third airlaid facility in total, and complements its facilities in Gatineau, Canada, and Falkenhagen, Germany. The additional 22,000 short tons of production capacity increases the company’s total global airlaid materials capacity to approximately 129,000 short tons, making Glatfelter the largest producer of airlaid materials in the world.

Glatfelter’s airlaid materials are found in a wide range of personal care products, including feminine hygiene and adult incontinence products, specialty wipes, tabletop, and homecare applications. The Fort Smith facility primarily supplies material to the specialty wipes market.

“We are excited to bring this new capacity and capabilities to our customers serving the growing North American market,” says Dante C. Parrini, chairman and chief executive officer. “I am grateful for the support of the community and impressed with the caliber of workforce we have been able to attract from the Fort Smith area, which has allowed us to open the facility on-time and produce high-quality products from the outset.”

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson joined local and company leaders for the grand opening celebration. During the program, Chris Astley, senior vice president & business unit president, Advanced Airlaid Materials, remarked, “as we celebrate the Fort Smith grand opening, we recognize the many partners who have made it possible: state and local officials, customers, suppliers, and Glatfelter people. The completion of this multi-year, $90 million project was nothing short of an outstanding team effort. We are grateful for the support of the community and expect the new operation will contribute to the long-term growth of both Glatfelter and Fort Smith.”