Glass multinational subsidiary Ardagh Glass Packaging Africa (AGP Africa), formerly Consol Glass, has announced the commissioning of a R1.5-billion extension of its Nigel production facility in Gauteng.

The extension has more than doubled the facility’s capacity to provide sustainable glass packaging to support its customers’ current and projected demand growth and incorporates a new furnace and production lines.

The extension also provides significant energy, water efficiency and environmental benefits, representing another important step in AGP Africa’s journey to decarbonise the glass production process and reduce emissions in the communities in which it operates.

This significant capital investment will bolster the government’s economic recovery plans and the project will offer much-needed job opportunities in Ekurhuleni. The expansion has created more than 150 direct jobs and significant ancillary supply-chain expenditure, the company said on July 6.

“We are proud to commission this significant capacity investment, which supports strong demand from our customers for sustainable, premium glass packaging. Completion of this project, on time and budget despite the Covid-19 and supply chain challenges of the past two years, represents a tremendous achievement by our technical and operational teams, said AGP Africa CEO Paul Curnow.

“The outlook for premium, sustainable glass packaging remains positive and AGP Africa expects to continue to invest in support of future market growth,” he added.

“Demand for sustainable packaging in Africa is growing strongly, supported by multiple factors, including rising income levels, growing sustainability awareness, favourable demographics and a shift to one-way packaging.

“We are committed to investing in our people and our asset base to enable us to serve this strong demand growth over the near term,” commented Ardagh Group chairperson and CEO Paul Coulson.

AGP Africa has operations in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Ethiopia.