The company takes the offcuts from the cardboard boxes it produces for supermarkets and other worldwide customers and turns them into plastic-alternative moulded fibre products for the medical, food and drink, retail, industrial and horticultural and sectors. Their latest innovation is a paper bottle for dry goods that replaces plastic alternatives.

The extension of their Glasgow premises has allowed the firm to create 34 new jobs and safeguard an existing 20. The extension will also allow them to supply to every UK branch of burger chain McDonald’s.

Innovation minister Richard Lochhead visited the site to officially open the new extension. He said: “I was delighted to be able to visit Cullen to see how support from the Low Carbon Manufacturing Challenge Fund will allow the company to expand its operations and workforce, helping us strive towards our ambition of becoming the home of low carbon manufacturing innovation.

“I’m pleased that the investment will not only create 34 new skilled jobs, through the company’s sustainable practices, it will help us in our aim to reach net-zero by 2045 and create a wellbeing economy.”

The project marks a £4.2m total investment by Cullen at their 150,000 sq ft plant in Glasgow’s Kelvindale area, which currently employs 189 people. The project will also see them install solar panels to further improve the factory’s sustainability.

Allan Maitland, managing director of Cullen Eco-Friendly Packaging, added: “We’re all really excited to share our factory expansion with the public.

“This additional space will mean that Cullen can manufacture and innovate eco-friendly packaging at an even higher rate, which is paramount given the world’s need for sustainable alternatives to plastic.

“This will continue to keep Cullen at the forefront of the sustainable packaging revolution and will no doubt mean that we can create even more jobs.”

Neil Francis, MD for major projects at Scottish Enterprise, said: “Helping innovative Scottish companies to seize the opportunities in the battle against climate change is a real area of focus for Scottish Enterprise.

“There can be few better examples of this than Cullen, who have been in operation for over 100 years and are now using their expertise to adapt to the industries of the future.”