Owens-Illinois Shuts Down Lavington Glass Plant, 300 Workers Affected

Vancouver, British Columbia (AHN) - Owens-Illinois Inc., the world's largest glass bottle maker, announced Friday that it will close its glass container plant in Lavington, British Columbia on Oct. 31.

Some 300 employees would be affected by the plant's shutdown- the Ohio-based company's third factory closure in Canada for the year. Owens-Illinois, however, assured employees that it will offer assistance in looking for new employment.

Owens-Illinois said that plant closures are part of a rationalization and global asset utilization program, transferring glass production to other of its North American facilities with the goal of reducing energy use and production costs.

The company's plant in Scoudouc, New Brunswick was closed in January, while a plant in Toronto is scheduled to shut down in September.

The glass bottle maker has 82 plants worldwide, employing about 24,000 workers. It posted revenues at $2.2 billion in the second quarter and a profit of $227.5 million.