The announcement was made during a ground breaking event to commemorate the establishment of a new Consol Greenfield factory in Nigel and the City of Ekurhuleni's Honourable Executive Mayor, Ntombi Mekgwe, who participated in turning the first soil on the site, accepted the pledge on behalf of the City. Publicly demonstrating her support of the new R1.9-billion Consol factory, Mekgwe joined the manufacturer in celebrating the significance of the project to both the community of Nigel and to the glass packaging industry. Due to be completed in September 2011, the new Consol glass factory will contribute towards development in the greater Nigel area, with growth expected in infrastructure, employment and community development projects. According to Consol Glass Group managing director, Mike Arnold, at least 170 jobs will be created through the establishment of the Greenfield site. "This ceremonial groundbreaking marks the start of exciting times ahead for both Consol and the people of Nigel. As the construction project officially gets underway we celebrate the fact that we will continue to be in a position to meet future market growth expectations. We also recognise our strategic partners in this process and acknowledge that without the City of Ekurhuleni's support for the project, it would have been thwarted in its infancy," says Arnold. Commenting on the new Greenfield glass factory, the Honourable Executive Mayor Ntombi Mekgwe says, "The investment by Consol will no doubt contribute to the transformation of the economy of the greater Nigel area and create decent work and sustainable livelihoods. This investment will act as a catalyst in stimulating economic growth and job creation. Our local economy will receive a major boost from increased infrastructure investment. The economy of the Far East has been on the decline. We hope through this investment to see an upturn in the local economy. This investment will also play a critical role in our efforts of reducing unemployment and poverty in the region." "Building a new factory also presents a whole new opportunity for employing more sustainable and environmentally conscious philosophies. By this token, the design of the new factory has been carefully considered, at all times taking into account best practices around the world," says Arnold. "From the outset it was agreed that the new factory would set the benchmark for the other factories in the group for energy efficiency (EE) and general environmental impact," says Arnold. Once the first two phases of the Greenfield factory are complete, Consol's annual glass packaging output will increase by a further 25 percent or 220,000 tons, elevating its total glass production to over one-million tons per annum; in excess of four-billion glass containers. Designed initially to be a two furnace operation, each with an output of 400 tons per day, the glass factory will be built in two phases. The first phase, costing R1.3-billion will consist of all the factory infrastructure development, the production service equipment and the first of two furnaces. The installation of the second phase costing R600-million will be dependent and driven by market growth and demand. As all the infrastructure and services will already be in place, the lead time for installation and commissioning of the second furnace will be less than nine months. Click HERE to view the Factsheet of "Greenfield Projects Gets The Greenlight".