As of October 5, 2026, Packaging Corporation of America (PCA) has notified Ohio of its decision to permanently close the converting operation in Middletown. Executives have been reported as saying a new Newark box plant began operating, but these are not proof that every customer order has automatically moved or has a confirmed delivery date. The useful unit of verification is the purchase order, product and actual manufacturing site.
What the original WARN notice says
PCA’s October 1 WARN notice filed with Ohio (PDF) says it decided to permanently close the converting operation at 1824 Baltimore Street, Middletown. It says work will be consolidated into larger operations, including a recently opened plant in Ohio. The letter itself does not name that new plant or specify the destination of every customer order.
The company estimates 91 employees will be affected. This is not a count of workers already laid off. PCA says it plans to retain employees through the 60-day WARN notification period; most are expected to be released from duty on December 1, 2026, while a few may remain longer. It expects to vacate the facility by the end of that month. The letter also says PCA will assist employees interested in transferring to other company locations with vacancies; it does not guarantee any individual’s transfer or re-employment. Actual personnel outcomes and the final hour of production cannot be inferred from this notice alone.
A Newark start-up is not a product-by-product transfer list
Packaging Dive’s October 2 report relays executives’ statement on a July earnings call that the new, approximately 550,000-square-foot corrugated converting plant in Newark, Ohio, started operating that month. This is an executive statement reported by an industry publication. Floor area is not a measured transfer capacity, utilization rate or delivery-time result for Middletown products. Linking the WARN’s unnamed “new plant” to Newark is a reasonable interpretation of the reporting, but the original WARN does not say that all work is transferred there.
Packaging Dive says PCA did not respond to its request for comment on the closure. The reviewed public materials do not provide an order-by-order transfer list, equipment capacities, die or print specifications, customer approvals, inventory allocations, freight bookings or dispatch dates. That evidence gap is not proof that a transfer has failed or that customer supply has stopped.
A purchase-order-level transfer record
The following is an editorial buyer checklist, not PCA’s announced integration plan or evidence of customer-specific losses.
- Current source: For each purchase order, box SKU and specification, distinguish the current plant from already confirmed shipments. If Middletown was not actually the source, establish why this news affects the order at all.
- Future source: Confirm the proposed plant and the exact equipment, dies, print plates and materials transferring for that product. “Newark” alone does not prove every process or production slot is interchangeable.
- Approval boundary: Check print, die-cutting, gluing, compression and dimensional approvals and any required customer change notice against the contract and product specification.
- Dispatch: Keep approved existing stock, trial production at the successor plant, quality release, first commercial shipment and transport booking on separate dates. Update promised delivery only from a written, order-specific supplier reply.
In short, the Middletown closure decision and affected-worker estimate come from a state-held company filing. The July Newark start-up comes from reporting of an executive statement. The factory, approval and dispatch date for any particular order remain separate supplier checks.
About the Author
PackingMaster edits PaperPackLog, separating paper-packaging plant announcements from order-specific supply evidence.
References
- Ohio, PCA Middletown WARN notice (PDF) — company’s October 1 letter confirming the closure decision, estimate of 91 affected workers and planned December 1 release of most staff.
- Packaging Dive, report on PCA’s Middletown closure and Newark plant — October 2 reporting of executives’ Newark start-up statement; not independent verification of order transfers.