Vetropack examines closure of the plant in St-Prex
Published: Thursday, Mar 7th 2024, 14:00
Updated At: Thursday, Mar 7th 2024, 14:01
Back to Live Feed
Vetropack could close its plant in St-Prex in the canton of Vaud before the end of this year. The Group's only Swiss production site is no longer profitable, which is why Vetropack has initiated the consultation process. Up to 180 jobs are at stake.
The glass packaging manufacturer has adapted the plant in St-Prex over decades and has invested more than 50 million Swiss francs in the factory since 2010, said company boss Johann Reiter in an interview with the news agency AWP on Thursday. Despite this, the economic viability of the site is no longer assured.
According to Reiter, the site suffers from its insufficient size, the restrictions imposed by its location in the middle of a heavily built-up area and its lack of competitiveness in a market environment that has become much tougher.
The decision was triggered by the approaching end of life of the furnace in St-Prex, said Reiter. "Life-prolonging measures" had been delaying the furnace's expiration date since 2016 - but now the management had to make a decision.
Replacing the furnace at the St-Prex plant would require an investment of 30 million Swiss francs. However, Reiter cannot imagine such an expenditure economically under the current conditions. "More than half of our production is exported, for example," explained the CEO. This puts a heavy burden on profitability.
Large proportion of employees affected
A consultation process has therefore been initiated. If no "viable alternative" is found as part of this process, Vetropack will close the plant after more than 100 years - in 2024.
This would affect 180 employees. And the closure of the site would lead to the majority of these jobs being cut. Reiter emphasized that efforts would be made to find socially acceptable solutions for all employees.
According to the manager, the plant in Vaud currently accounts for 6% of Vetropack's total capacity. In the event of a closure, Swiss customers would be supplied from other Vetropack plants in neighboring countries. "That would be possible without any problems," said Group CEO Reiter.
Future of the site open
The plant in the Vaud municipality of St-Prex is not far from Lake Geneva and the land is owned by Vetropack. Reiter did not (yet) want to speculate on what would happen to the site in the event of closure.
Vetropack had already closed production at its headquarters in Bülach in 2002. After that, the former industrial site remained a wasteland for many years. In 2012, two non-profit housing developers finally bought the land - today, the "Glasi Quarter" north of the train station is home to 580 apartments.
The "Glasi" has thus followed the same path as many other former industrial sites in Switzerland. They are called "Papieri", "Suurstoffi", "Lokstadt" or "Guss".
©Keystone/SDA
English 
German 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic