When Pactiv Evergreen shut down the Canton paper mill in May, laying off 1,100 workers, the Illinois-based food container maker pointed to high costs to upgrade the century-old plant as well as unfavorable market conditions ― but now, five months later, the company’s inability to keep up with spiking demand is causing widespread school lunchroom shortages.
Lack of half-pint cartons, a product made by Pactiv Evergreen, has caused shortages in school cafeterias from California to New York of milk, which federal rules require as part of lunches. The Canton mill was one of the facilities making the “board” to construct the cartons.
Officials with the Asheville City and Buncombe County school systems say they are among those affected.
“ACS had experienced issues with the typical variety of milk we are able to get and had some isolated shortages over the past few weeks,” said spokesperson Avery Greene.
Greene and BCS spokesperson Stacia Harris said earlier this month their systems have been able to avoid the worst of the problems.
“We have seen milk carton shortages but have been working with our vendors to prevent any disruption in milk options for students,” Harris said. “We continue to monitor and work through this nationwide challenge.”
But other schools across the country saw greater disruption. Officials with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service issued a memo late last month allowing districts to serve different types or sizes of milk during the supply shortage — or to skip milk altogether.
More:Asheville City School Board votes to proceed with hiring outside food vendor for lunches
Pactiv Evergreen, which bills itself as “the leading manufacturer of fresh food and beverage packaging in North America” acknowledged in a Nov. 3 statement that it “continues to face significantly higher than projected demand” for its milk cartons.
The shortage is affecting the company’s ability to “fully supply some school milk orders,” said Matt Herrick, spokesperson for the International Dairy Foods Association.
The carton shortage — which could also affect milk and juice served in hospitals, nursing homes and prisons — has forced officials across the country to brainstorm backup plans.
Pactiv Evergreen did not respond to a Citizen Times Nov. 7 inquiry about whether the company had regrets about misreading the market and closing the plant.
One union official whose region included the Canton plant said former employees were eager to go back to work at a reopened mill.
“We have the capacity and the folks to be making liquid packaging for milk cartons in Canton, N.C., and would love to help them with their issues,” said Alan Jones, a Canton resident who works as sub-district director for United Steelworkers, the union that represented the mill workers.
The May 24 closure caused widespread economic and social disruption to the town as well as the wider region.
Last winter, before announcing the closure and layoffs, corporate officers declared they would pay a bonus to shareholders and sold more than $600,000 in stock before its price nosedived, drawing bitter criticism from workers and town officials. Republican Congressman Chuck Edwards, whose 11th District covers most of Western North Carolina, including Canton, called for a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation. It’s not clear if the SEC has taken any action. Investigations by the regulatory body are done privately and only become known to the public with the filing of an enforcement action.
The carton shortage could linger for months, according to Herrick. The International Dairy Foods Association spokesperson said U.S. milk processors are working with other package suppliers to resolve the shortage. He said he expected the problem to improve within weeks and to be resolved by early next year.
More:Former Canton mill workers take on new roles after commercial driver’s license program
Violation notice: Canton mill denies illegally dumping chemicals into wastewater system
The Associated Press Contributed to this report
Joel Burgess has lived in WNC for more than 20 years, covering politics, government and other news. He’s written award-winning stories on topics ranging from gerrymandering to police use of force. Got a tip? Contact Burgess at jburgess@citizentimes.com, 828-713-1095 or on Twitter @AVLreporter. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
