News from St-Prex: Dismantling Progresses

30.04.2025: One year after the decision was made to close the plant in St-Prex, the dismantling of the production facilities is nearing completion. On 14 May 2024, the Vetropack Group announced the closure of the site, and production ceased the following month. In the meantime, the remaining machinery on site has been sold to an Indian company. Back in February, two machines had already been shipped to Italy for refurbishment, where they will continue to be used within the Group.

One year after announcing the closure of the plant, Vetropack still employs around 45 people in St-Prex.
The dismantling of the production facilities continues. Vetropack will soon relocate most of the machinery to other sites.
«All machines from St-Prex are now entering a new phase of operation.»
Christian Schmutz, Site Manager

Since the announcement of the closure – an especially painful decision for the employees in St-Prex and a historic step for Vetropack as the company’s last Swiss production site – a lot has changed on site. In spring 2025, Vetropack still has around 45 employees at the site – a year earlier, there were around 180. The cullet processing operation is still active, but the production facilities have largely been dismantled. 

All machines from St-Prex are now entering a new phase of operation. “We have sold our last production machines, together with the cold-end technology, to a company in India,” says site manager Christian Schmutz. Meanwhile, Vetropack has already started repair work on the ten-station AIS 211 machine and the twelve-station AIS 214 machine in Italy. The AIS 211 is expected to be installed at the Nemšová site as early as next year, while the AIS 214 will likely be commissioned in Kremsmünster. 

Other equipment is also being repurposed: a MSK shrink film wrapping machine will be delivered to the Vetropack plant in Pöchlarn in June, and a MSK palletizing system will be shipped to a company in Egypt in the same month. “We were able to reuse all of the IS control systems within the group. Laboratory measuring devices and spare parts have also been distributed to various Vetropack locations. We are very pleased that we have been able to achieve this”, Schmutz adds. 

Even a year later, the end of 113 years of production in St-Prex still resonates with those affected. Vetropack remains fully committed to completing the dismantling process safely and providing the best possible support to its employees during this transition phase.