Germany/USA: Krones and O-I Glass sign strategic collaboration agreement

The trend towards glass packaging as a result of the partial abandonment of PET is now bringing two major players in the beverage packaging market closer together.

Owens-Illinois, better known as O-I Glass, the world’s largest manufacturer of glass containersheadquartered in Perrysburg, Ohio , and Krones, the world's leading manufacturer of filling and packaging technology, headquartered in Neutraubling, Germany, announced today to have signed a "a strategic collaboration agreement to offer clients completely integrated, end-to-end solutions in the future.”

For many years, Krones had relied on a further positive development in PET plastic packaging and aligned its product portfolio accordingly. The fact that plastic packaging was increasingly being pilloried as being environmentally harmful was ignored.When the wind turned and consumers were looking for glass packaging again, Krones was caught on the wrong foot and suffered heavy losses.The company had to issue a profit warning and announced job cuts, even long before the Coronavirus turned the industry upside down (inside.beer, 12.12.2020).

“For O-I, glass is the preferred packaging solution in a world that increasingly values health, premium products and the environment,” explains Andres Lopez, President and CEO at O-I.

“Not only does it maintain the integrity of the products and protects the environment, as customers and consumers intend, but it also offers magnificent opportunities for establishing brands and implementing sustainable solutions.”

“In production facilities all over the world, the products of O-I and Krones are already encountering each other. So it was absolutely logical to improve still further the compatibility of Krones’ complete lines and the glass containers from O-I,” adds Christoph Klenk, CEO of Krones AG.

Focus areas include improvements in glass filling and packaging line speed and efficiency; enhanced agility and flexibility of responding to market trends; development of innovative and sustainable glass systems; and advancements in digital solutions such as direct-to-glass digital printing technology.

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