Dixie plate plant gets $145M expansion; Dixie cup plant to close in Darlington

Story as it appears on WBTW News13

Georgia-Pacific will make an investment of more than $145 million at its Dixie plant in Darlington that will expand plate and bowl making operations.

At the same time, the company also announced that it will shut down its Darlington cup plant by September and the current distribution center sometime in 2021.

The investment at Darlington will not create new jobs but will modernize and expand the plate and bowl capacity of the facility.

The expansion will kick off in March with a targeted completion of first quarter 2022. During this time, the plate plant will continue to operate. Over time, the site will add new machinery, including a new plate printing press. A new, modern warehouse also will be part of the expansion.

“This truly is an investment in our customers and consumers who use our products and value the Dixie brand,” said David Duncan, executive vice president for Georgia-Pacific’s Consumer Products Group.

Georgia-Pacific will work with affected employees at the cup plant on transitions to roles in plate operations, other opportunities within GP or other Koch companies or opportunities outside of the company.

All of the future Darlington operations will be clustered on the Old Florence Road property, using the existing plate operation as the building block for the expansion.