Saint-Gobain plans to invest EUR 100 million over five years at its facility in Pisa, the group's oldest Italian plant. The project includes an increase in float capacity from 625 to 830 tonnes a day, better melting performance and, above all, much higher energy efficiency. Production of laminated building glass will be moved from the west site to the east site and a new line installed giving a capacity of 5 million square meters a year, the highest in the group at European level. As market conditions allow, the company plans to evaluate the setting-up of a thin film sputtering line for solar control glass. The moves are seen as giving the plant strong capability to compete at a European level, according to Riccardo Garrè, managing director of Saint Gobain Italia spa.
