French packaging specialist Albéa (Gennevilliers; www.albea-group.com) in late January started production at its new plant in Bottanuco, located near Milan / Italy. The facility, which produces packaging for the beauty, personal care and pharmaceutical sectors, measures 18,400 m² and has capacity for 160m units per year. It combines production from the company’s two former sites in Verderio and Imbersago and employs some 250 workers. The company had announced the conversion of several of its smaller sites in both Italy and France into larger production hubs in early 2014 – see Plasteurope.com of 09.01.2014.

The Bottanuco site brings together Albéa’s injection, injection-blow moulding, decoration, surface treatment and assembly operations, and will serve as the company’s European centre of excellence for mascara, lipgloss and eyeliner. Commenting on the launch, Guillaume de Demandolx, executive vice president at Albéa Cosmetic Rigid Packaging, said, “This completely integrated site should not only improve our responsiveness and industrial efficiency but should also allow us to offer a wider range of high value-added services.”

Bottanuco will also be home to the Albéa Tips Studio, the only one of its kind in the world, which combines the company’s expertise in innovation, development and production of applicators.