Steering an Industry: A History of Innovation at Tredegar Film Products
Many film industry firsts can be traced to Tredegar engineers. We extruded the
first polyethylene film in the United States, initially for military use during
World War II, then commercially under the popular VisQueen® brand name. Tredegar
introduced the world to the blown film co-extrusion process, embossed film technology,
heat-activated elastomers, vacuum apertured films, and stretch and breathable laminates.
Our engineers advanced the state of microporous, breathable films and the compression-rolled
orientation (CRO) process. In addition to developing technologies to produce reduced-gauge
High Molecular Weight - High Density Polyethylene (HMW-HDPE) film for tissue and
towel packaging, we were the first to use post-consumer recycled resin in high quality
packaging films.
Key Milestones
- 1925 — inception of Visking to produce new non-animal based casings for meat products
- 1945 — as the market for military sheeting ended, we created new markets for our
products
- 1950s-1960s —dominated many emerging markets for PE films
- 1963 — Ethyl acquired VisQueen (a unit of Visking)
- 1964 — began producing backsheet for babydiapers
- 1966 — produced first Horizontal Double Bubble packaging film
- 1974 — commercialized - new to the world - aperturing technology
- 1978 — expanded into VisPore market highlighted by landscape fabric
- 1982 — commercialized first hygiene film topsheet
- 1984 — introduced our first masking film for Surface Protection
- 1989 — acquired Kerkrade operation in the Netherlands
- 1990 — produced first UltraMask® adhesiveless masking
- 1992 — acquired Brazilian operation
- 1993 — introduced our unique laminating process
- 1996 — expanded into China
- 1998 — FabriFlex™ brand introduced
- 1999 — acquired Exxon's film business - FabriFlex™ brand joins Tredegar's product
portfolio
- 1999 — greenfield plant opened in Rétság, Hungary
- 2000 — acquired Adma/Promea (Italy)
- 2001 — opened greenfield site in Shanghai (China)
- 2003 — opened greenfield site in Guangzhou (China)
- 2003 — AquiDry® brand introduced
- 2004 — expansion of innovative surface protection films for LCD's market
- 2004 — acquired apertured nonwoven technologies
- 2004 — ComfortQuilt™ brand introduced
- 2005 — ComfortAire™ brand introduced
- 2005 — FlexAire™ brand introduced
- 2006 — opened Red Springs (NC), USA plant