Verallia has inaugurated a €60 million furnace investment at its Villa Poma facility, Italy.
The container glass manufacturer said the investment included cutting edge production equipment equipment and environmental technologies.
Verallia CEO Marco Ravasi said the investment exceeded €90 million if the modernisation of the other furnace at the facility if taken into consideration, which took place in 2019.
He said: “In the last five years, we have invested over €250 million in Italy, confirming that this is a central market in the group's global strategy.
“We believe that, at a complex time like this, it is necessary for a Group like Verallia to participate in the industrial revival of the country by actively supporting the rebound of food and beverage made in Italy, committing itself so that development can be long-lasting and sustainable.
“We owe it to our 1,300 employees and to the local communities where our six Italian plants are located."
The construction of the furnace included 320,000 hours of work with 249 supplier companies involved and around 1,500 people actively involved in the site construction.
The production technologies will enable the glass packaging site to reduce its CO2 emissions by 10% and electricity consumption by 15%.
A further investment in the Mantua area will consist in the planting of some wooded areas, equal to about 20,000 square meters, which will allow absorption of CO2.
The plant expansion has led to the hiring of 80 young people between 20 and 30 years old, including 34 women.
Human Resources Director of Verallia Italia, Luca Bollettino, said: "The number of women has quadrupled in the last five years and some of them occupy important positions of responsibility, for example the plant manager and the furnace manager at the Villa Poma plant."
