Plastics & Rubber Manufacturing

A Growth Driver for High-Tech Manufacturing Sectors

Why Georgia for Plastics and Rubber

Close proximity to aerospace, auto, healthcare and other high demand industries
Abundant workforce and competitive wages
Renowned workforce training program
Excellent accessibility to market
Business-friendly environment

Sigma Stretch Film of Georgia to Invest $39 Million in Columbus

“This new location in Georgia fills a geographical need for our stretch-film division and demonstrates Sigma's commitment to help grow our customers' businesses by investing in assets that will help us lower our cost to service ."

Mark Teo, President & CEO, The Sigma Plastics Group

Source: “Sigma Stretch Film of Georgia to Invest $39 Million in Columbus, Create 100 New Jobs,” Choose Columbus, 7.15.2025

Danimer Plastics Success Story

387

Plastic & Rubber Manufacturing Locations

GPC Economic Development, 2025

11th

State in # of Professionals in Industry

Lightcast 2025.4Q

$3.4B

Plastics & Rubber Manufacturing GRP

Lightcast 2025.4Q

Industry Snapshot

Plastics manufacturing accounts for approximately 73% of the industry while rubber manufacturing accounts for nearly 27%.

Plastics: Packaging materials, film and sheet manufacturing, foam products, plastic bottles and all other plastics product manufacturing
Rubber: Tire manufacturing and retreading, rubber hoses and belting manufacturing and all other rubber product manufacturing

Additionally, the varied composition of the state's plastics and rubber manufacturing industry gives existing and potential facilities ample room to grow.

Top Employers

From custom injection molded products to automobile tires, Georgia's plastics and rubber products manufacturers supply a variety of industries, such as automotive and aerospace.

Tires & Retreading: Toyo Tire & Rubber (2,000), Kumho Tire USA (582)
Foam Products: Dart Container Corp. (988), WinCup (353)
Plastic Packaging (Film & Sheet): Pactiv (1,265), Printpack (765), Berry Global (709)
Plastic Bottles: CKS Packaging Inc. (455), ALPLA (350)
All Other Plastics Products: Mauser Packaging Solutions (1,015), Synesqo (692)
All Other Rubber Products: M+A Matting (700), Freudenberg-NOK (680)

27,000

Industry Jobs

Lightcast 2025.4Q

16%

Anticipated Growth 2025 - 2035

Lightcast 2025.4Q

$21.50

Median Hourly Earnings

Lightcast 2025.4Q

Talent Critical to Plastics & Rubber Manufacturing

Based on staffing patterns for the plastics and rubber manufacturing industries, Georgia has an abundance of workers employed in critical occupations. The graphs to the left illustrate the character of Georgia's plastics and rubber manufacturing talent. Major occupations include:

Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand
Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators
Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers
Packers and Packagers, Hand
Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders
Tire Builders

Quality Talent for Less

Georgia is known for its high-quality affordable workforce. Wage rates in the state typically fall below the national average, particularly in manufacturing occupations. The state’s plastics and rubber manufacturing wages are no exception.

Projected growth of 16% in plastics and rubber manufacturing industry workers over the next decade compared to 5% nationally
Median hourly earnings of $21.50 compared to $22.14 nationally (based on top 10 plastics and rubber manufacturing industry staffing pattern occupations)

92k

Industry-Relevant Grads (2010 - 2024)

IPEDS Completion Data, Lightcast 2025.4Q

#2

Leading Workforce Training Program

Area Development, 2025

22

Technical Colleges

TCSG, 2025

The People and Support Needed to Succeed

Georgia's high concentration of degree-seeking students and top-tier colleges and universities make the state one of the country’s richest in top-level talent. These institutions also offer companies access to cutting-edge research and development partnerships.

Since 2012, there has been a 10% increase in the number of graduates skilled in supporting Georgia's plastics and rubber manufacturing operations
Georgia Tech ranks 4th for engineering R&D funding nationally and has benefited from a 88% uptick in R&D funding since 2014