SOUTH AFRICA – Alpla, an international manufacturer of plastic packaging based in Austria, is building a new production site in the province of Gauteng, Lanseria near Johannesburg, which will combine activities from its five existing plants.

As part of the consolidation, the production at its plants in Harrismith, Denver, Isando, Kempton Park and Samrand will be transferred to the new plant with more than 50 employees impacted.

Accordingly, a notice in terms of section 189(3) of the LRA will be issued. Trade unions have been informed of these intentions.

Covering an area of ​​30,000 square kilometres, the factory aims to simplify and optimise manufacturing processes while also contributing to improving logistics and transport.

Construction of the new plant began in February 2020 and is expected to be completed by next year.

Standard bottle solutions and tailor-made packaging for the food, personal care, home care, chemical, detergent and pharmaceutical industries will continue to be manufactured at the new plant.

“Our new plant in Lanseria gives us the opportunity to produce according to modern, globally applicable corporate standards.”

“In this way, we not only improve the quality of our products, but also meet the high demands of our global customers”, said Christoph Riedlsperger, Alpla regional director for Africa, the Middle East and Turkey.

In the past five years, Alpla has significantly expanded its market presence in Africa with several acquisitions, in particular South-African based Boxmore Packaging, which specialises in creating PET bottles, PET pre-forms and closures for drinks bottles.

With the construction of the new site, the Austrian packaging manufacturer aims to create long-term growth and competitiveness in the Sub-Saharan African region.

Alpla specialises in blow-moulded bottles and caps, injection-moulded parts, preforms and tubes.

It is the largest producer of packaging in Europe, with a total of 178 production plants in over 46 countries worldwide, approx. 20,800 employees and annual sales of € 3.66 billion (US$4.1b) in 2018.