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Consumers Glass, a division of Consumers Packaging Inc., is traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The majority shareholder is G&G Investments Inc. of Pittsburg, U.S.A.
The mission of Consumers Glass is to provide quality products and service to a growing customer base, ensure a safe and rewarding workplace for employees, produce strong financial performance for shareholders, and operate its business with a vital concern for the environment.
Consumers Glass is the market leader in Canada and the fourth largest glassmaker in North America. Its future lies in developing new markets. In 1995, exports, primarily to the U.S,. rose by 51% and accounted for 28% of the Company's sales. Other export markets in which Consumers Glass is active include Caribbean countries, Mexico, and Europe.
Besides exporting its products, Consumers is also marketing its expertise in glass-making technology. In 1995, for example, engineering department staff assisted in supervising a furnace rebuild for a glassmaker in Israel. Technology sharing arrangements are also under discussion for China, Italy, Sri Lanka and Eastern Europe.
Consumers Glass' creative design and technical engineering staff have developed innovative glass containers for customers' marketing needs which have consistently won national, North American and international awards. Beside its acknowledged design capabilities, other strong sales assets for Consumers Glass are its flexibility, technological innovation and service.
The Company is currently being certified to ISO 9001, an internationally recognized set of quality standard systems which will be incorporated into all aspects of its standard operating procedures.
Recycling of used glass containers has been a prime focus of Consumers Glass' activities since 1990, when a Product Stewardship Program was initiated which encompassed the "3 Rs" approach of reduce, reuse and recycle. Consumers Glass has been in the forefront in working with governments, industry, the recycling community and the public to set up recovery systems to recycle glass packaging products. As a result of the Company's proactive recycling activities, its new glass containers currently contain a 31% recycled content, up from 7% in 1988.
The company operates seven glass manufacturing plants across Canada with a combined production capacity of over 2,000 tonnes of glass containers a day (approximately 2.8 billion glass containers a year). They are located in Scoudouc, New Brunswick; Pte. St. Charles, Quebec; Hamilton, Bramalea, Milton and Toronto in Ontario, and in Lavington, B.C. and employ over 2,750 people, the majority of whom are unionized under the Aluminum, Brick and Glassworkers Union, the Canadian Auto Workers Union and the Teamsters Union.
Consumers Glass was founded in 1917 with the purchase of a small glass plant in Montreal, Quebec. The firm entered the Ontario market in 1954 with the opening of a glass plant in Toronto which doubled production capacity.
In 1969, a manufacturing plant was constructed in Lavington, B.C. to serve the wineries of the Okanagan valley, and the Vancouver and Calgary markets.
The plant in Milton, Ontario was completed in May, 1980, and is dedicated to the production of beer bottles.
The purchase of Domglas in May, 1989 added the glass-making facilities in Scoudouc, New Brunswick; Hamilton and Bramalea, Ontario and Pte. St. Charles, Quebec.
In 1992, Consumers Glass celebrated its 75th year in business, presenting employees with a special issue, collector bottle.
Glass containers are manufactured for varied end-use markets -- food, juice, iced tea, soft drink, water, beer, liquor and wine -- in sizes ranging from 15 ml to 4.5 litre bottles.
Consumers Glass package design capabilities have won recognition, not just for increasing sales appeal for products, but as a cost-saving tool for customers. Package redesign, for example, can improve a customer's line efficiency and reduce closure expenditures. Packaging technicians make recommendations based on the package design elements to optimize warehousing space and materials handling. Technical specialists advise on the most efficient approaches to production filling line layout, labelling and closure methods.
Copyright ® 1999, Glass Works
