On November 8th  2019 our manufacturing plant in Amsterdam celebrates its 100th anniversary.

On this date in 1919, Bernhard van Leer started the Van Leer United Factories Corporation (VALEFA) at the Asterweg site in Amsterdam. Initially the factory produced boxes for margarine, soap and cigarettes. In 1926 the factory started producing steel drums for a company we now know as Shell.  The close proximity of the site to the refinery was highly advantageous as the drums were floated across the canal onto the Shell site.