Amcor Rigid Plastics in Batavia to close doors

BATAVIA – About 110 jobs will be lost in coming months as Amcor Rigid Plastics in Batavia begins to wind down operations.

A decision to close the plant recently was made, said Michael Hodges, Amcor vice president of communications.

"It's going to be a rolling type of shutdown," he said. "We anticipate starting in the September time frame for moving equipment from the plant. That will be completed by March 2018. … At some future point that plant will be sold."

He said the company makes plastic bottles for the food industry, and cited changing business conditions as the major reason for the closure.

"That plant is specifically attuned to the food market," Hodges said of the Batavia site located at 1300 S. River St. (Route 25). "We manufacture rigid plastic packages."

"We have a large footprint in America," Hodges said, when asked about the Batavia employees' future job options. "We have over 30 plant sites [in] North America. If jobs exist and people wanted to move, there would be opportunities for that."

Hodges said Amcor has four other plants near Chicago. They are in south Chicago in the Pullman District, Addison, Itasca and Mundelein.