Just days after the provincial government announced the proposed Water Opportunities Act, a plan to capitalize on Ontario’s water technology sector, GE Canada has announced that its Zenon Environmental Inc. operations will be moving to Hungary.

The Hamilton Spectator reports that operations at the Burlington plant of what was once known as Zenon will cease by year’s end. The plant manufactures the ZeeWeed line, the spaghetti-like membrane that filters bacteria and other contaminants out of water and wastewater. From the article:

The company announced last week that approximately 45 employees at the facility will be affected. Employees will also be offered jobs in GE Power and Water, which has operations around the world.

Kim Warburton, spokesperson for GE Canada, said the move to close the Burlington plant will see ZeeWeed operations move to the company’s plant in Oroszlany, Hungary, and bring all ZeeWeed manufacturing under one roof. “It’s a way that we can continue to build efficiencies into our business operations in water. It made sense to do this, to put things under one roof,” Warburton said.

“Demand for the product is lower than we would like so we have seen a bit of a decline,” she added. She attributes it to the slowdown in the economy and more competition in the market.

In 2006, Zenon was purchased by GE Water & Process Technologies in a deal worth over $760 million.

4 COMMENTS

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your name here
Please enter your comment!