Glass manufacturer Vetropack Group is investing over CHF 400 million (approximately $417.6 million) in a new facility located near Milan in Italy.

The company has determined that the previous Vetropack Italia site, in Trezzano sul Naviglio, will not meet its quality and sustainability goals in the long term.

Production is expected to start at the new Boffalora sopra Ticino facility in 2023, and Vetropack says that it expects an increase in production capacity of around 70% compared with the last site.

Christoph Burgermeister, project manager at Vetropack, said: “Thanks to modern equipment and processes, we can produce more flexibly and better meet the increasing demand for high-quality packaging, even in smaller volumes – so-called semi-specials”.

“We are looking forward to the start of a new era for our customers and are confident that Boffalora will have a positive impact on the entire Vetropack Group.”

The company says that water used for production and exhaust heat from the blast furnaces will be reused as much as possible thanks to recirculation systems, and emissions will be reduced with the help of the latest filter systems.