French glass manufacturer Verallia is to invest €65 million in its Chalon-sur-Saone production facility, France.

 

About €60 million will be used to equip the site with three furnaces to replace the current ones.

 

The remaining €5 million will be used to increase the site’s production capacity, improve its industrial performance, and reduce its environmental footprint and that of its customers.

 

This investment will also reinforce the programme to lighten the weight of certain bottles, in response to growing demand from customers who want to reduce their environmental footprint.

 

The Chalon sur Saône plant is the largest of the group’s 32 plants, both in size and production capacity. It can produce 1 billion bottles per year.

 

The investments are part of a strategy to modernise the group’s production capabilities with a view to long-term growth, particularly in France, the historical birthplace of Verallia.

 

They follow the announcement at the end of 2021 of the project to build two new 100% electric furnaces at the Cognac site.

 

Olivier Rousseau, President of Verallia France: “Our ambition is to make the Chalon plant a competitive, flexible and reliable facility to best serve our customers in flint and dead leaf coloured glass, characteristic of Burgundy wine bottles, while ensuring safety and better working conditions for our employees.”