Coster: A Journey at a Rapid Pace
The Coster Group’s growth has been rapid since its founding in 1963 in the Milan area, where the fledgling company produced its first valves and aerosol filling machines, before moving three years later to Calceranica al Lago. The takeover of the company by Mr. Rolando Segatta in 1970 acted as a catalyst for growth.
In 1990, it became the first Italian company—and the third in the world—to fully automate its in-plant material flow with the implementation of LGV systems. The period from 1990 to 2000 was marked by globalization, with the establishment of operations in the United States, India, Argentina, and Malaysia. In 2019, a new organizational structure was implemented across the Group, featuring new processes (supply chain, HR, a new ERP/SAP system, etc.). In 2020, the company acquired Catidome in Annecy, which now operates one large anodizing line and five smaller lines. In 2022, a new factory will break ground in India to manufacture low-cost pumps, followed in 2024 by a new factory in Brazil. And by the end of 2026, a brand-new plant in Mexico will begin production.
Sustainability
“We place the utmost importance,” emphasizes Damiano Marsilli, “on sustainability and our responsibility toward all stakeholders, both within our plants and beyond.” We have published an annual sustainability report compliant with GRI standards to disclose non-financial information since 2017 (the 9th report in 2025), and we have ambitious goals to consolidate our leadership in innovation while reducing our environmental impact.” The Group’s goals for 2026 are to achieve zero waste to landfill globally, obtain new ISO 50001 energy certifications, and new ISO 14001 environmental certifications. For 2028, the goals are to achieve carbon neutrality for Scopes 1 and 2 with an SBTi reduction target for Scopes 1 and 2, and by 2030, an SBTi reduction target for Scope 3. It should be noted that 25% of the energy at the Torello plant is supplied by “clean” electricity (solar panels). In 2025, for the second consecutive year, the Group operated globally using 100% electricity from renewable sources, thanks to a combination of direct renewable energy procurement and certified energy credits (iREC and GO). “We have also achieved exceptional results in waste management within the Italian operations of the Packaging division,” emphasizes Damiano Marsilli, “at its sites in Trentino, where 99.3% of the waste generated was recycled and the remaining 0.7% was thermally recovered, with no waste sent to landfills or incineration facilities.
“This outstanding performance confirms the maturity and effectiveness of the Group’s circular waste management practices and was recognized with the BAMA Award, where the ‘Zero Waste to Landfill’ initiative took second place in the Sustainability category.”
During the year, ZWL certification was extended to the Group’s subsidiaries in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. The U.K. site obtained its first ISO 14001 certification, bringing overall compliance with the environmental management system across all Coster sites to 78%. The United Kingdom also adopted the GMP standard to replace the BRC standard.
That same year, Coster officially joined the Operation Clean Sweep® (OCS) program, committing to raising awareness among its staff and implementing operational measures aimed at preventing the dispersal of plastic pellets into the environment throughout production, handling, and logistics activities.
“Thanks to eco-design principles,” emphasizes Damiano Marsilli, “we are constantly striving to reduce material use by optimizing component weight and eliminating unnecessary elements. At the same time, we are conducting research into alternative materials and distribution systems that offer better environmental performance. Life cycle assessments (LCAs) are systematically conducted to evaluate impacts throughout the product’s life cycle, enabling us to make informed design choices. The integration of post-consumer recycled (PCR) resins, as well as the development of single-material, POM-free, and fully recyclable components, further strengthens our portfolio of sustainable solutions.”
The Group continues to improve its industrial model through cutting-edge automation and digitalization, supported by a strong engineering culture. Building on long-standing Industry 4.0 principles, the Group leverages integrated digital platforms such as SAP S/4HANA, MES, and WMS to ensure a seamless data flow and operational efficiency. Real-time monitoring enables more responsive, data-driven decision-making, while advanced LGV systems and automation solutions enhance productivity and traceability across processes. At the same time, the Group has accelerated the adoption of enterprise artificial intelligence solutions to optimize operations and support predictive analytics. This approach is complemented by the implementation of advanced vulnerability assessment systems, aimed at strengthening cybersecurity and ensuring the resilience and reliability of digital infrastructure.
Coster’s Second Act: Crisis and Opportunity
To mark Costertec’s 60th anniversary, the Coster Group published a book on the Group’s history. Continued and excerpts….
Rolando Segatta
Coster’s second life began with Rolando Segatta, whose life would henceforth be entirely devoted to Coster and centered on aerosol valves, pumps, dispensers, propellants, and filling machines…
But he didn’t know it yet: his initial plan to turn the company around was to reorganize the management team and shut down valve production in Pero in order to consolidate it at Calceranica.
Later, he would even have considered converting the entire factory to produce lighters. His tenure, in fact, did not begin under the best of circumstances for the aerosol sector: it was yet another boom, but this time, the surge concerned oil prices, and the consequences were far from positive. 1973 was the year of the first major oil crisis, following which the economy had to cope with a sudden and sustained rise in the cost of its primary energy source. That marked the end of the boom. Compounding this slowdown in economic growth was the discovery, made in 1974 by American chemist Frank Sherwood Rowland and Mexican chemist José Mario Molina, that the ozone layer above the polar regions was gradually thinning, posing serious risks to all forms of life on Earth. Within a few years, this phenomenon would become known worldwide as the “ozone hole,” and it was established that one of the main causes of this phenomenon was chlorofluorocarbons—namely, gases such as Freon, used as propellants in aerosol cans (which would be gradually phased out starting in the 1980s).
This was a discovery that could have brought the entire industry to a halt and prompted all companies in the sector to take action, seeking a solution as quickly as possible.
They found two. The first was to replace valves, whenever possible, with pumps that operate mechanically and do not require propellants. However, pumps are not suitable for all products: some, such as hairsprays, cannot be dispensed without a propellant. The alternative to chlorofluorocarbons turned out to be LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) gases, such as butane and propane, which, unlike Freon, are inert and therefore not harmful to the environment. However, they present numerous drawbacks for the industry, as they are unstable, emit an unpleasant odor if not properly treated, and, most importantly, are flammable.
The use of potentially hazardous gases forced companies to undertake a major restructuring to bring their plants into compliance with the new, much stricter safety standards and to use new machines designed to operate with this new propellant.
The crisis ultimately turned out to be an unexpected opportunity for Coster, both because the pressurized filling machines developed by Giancarlo Giuffredi worked perfectly with the new gases and made the filling process even faster, and because the company already had a very extensive line of patented pumps that could be used with any type of product. Fast, easy-to-use filling machines, quick-connect valves, and pumps of all types: Coster had the good fortune and expertise to be well prepared, with the right products at the right time.
The turning point that would lead to the definitive breakthrough came with the sale of no fewer than three filling production lines to the Soviet Union and an entire factory in Romania: it was at that moment that Rolando Segatta became certain that the company had a future. And it would not be in the lighter business. The fact that he sincerely believed in this is evidenced by the fact that, from then on, whenever he could afford it, he invested his earnings in buying company stock. Coster would become his reason for living, the passion to which he would devote all his energy and talent, right up until a few days before his death at the age of ninety in 2015. Over the course of forty-five years, working alongside a close-knit group of trusted colleagues, he succeeded in transforming Coster—a small Italian company—into a multinational corporation that today boasts sixteen production sites across four continents, a thousand employees, and a thousand clients.
Above all, Rolando Segatta was an engineer—and he was one in the highest and deepest sense of the word. What guided his actions, in fact, was an extraordinary analytical and rational intellect. For him, what mattered were facts, not words, and that is why, throughout his life, he kept as far away as possible from journalists, politicians, and marketing specialists: the only thing that mattered to him was industrial production, which, under his leadership, became the beating heart of the company, its driving force. During the forty-five years he led Coster, technological excellence and quality were always at the heart of the company’s mission. He was not driven by a desire to be competitive, but by a constant pursuit of industrial excellence—to “do things right,” with reliability and professionalism, and to produce in the best possible way. He did not seek to stand out from others or to enrich himself; on the contrary, throughout his life—even though he lacked for nothing—he always showed discretion and cared not only for the well-being of the company but also for that of the people who worked there and for the region where it is based, Trentino, to which he was deeply attached.
Never reckless, he did not take unnecessary risks in pursuit of the deal of the century, but rather prioritized stability and security, always keeping his feet on the ground, aware that the livelihoods and lives of so many families depended on the company. He had the sensitivity needed to create jobs in his region, and the region’s residents recognized this, showing him respect and gratitude that endured even after his death.
Cool-headed, calculating, and rational, what drove him was his great passion for engineering, industry, and robotics. As soon as he took the reins at Coster, he focused on what his engineering genius told him was the key to success: production efficiency and the optimization of industrial processes using the most advanced technologies available at the time. To remain competitive in a country like Italy, where labor costs are very high, Rolando Segatta realized, years ahead of his time, that he had to stake everything on automation and digitization, convinced—and rightly so—that certain quality and production standards can only be achieved by using cutting-edge technologies and machinery, because reducing human error is synonymous with quality, and quality is synonymous with competitiveness.
Coster has grown and taken shape around these ideas and the decision—whenever possible—to entrust machines with tasks that are tiring, repetitive, or dangerous, and to leave to people the tasks requiring intelligence and thought, which no machine will ever be able to perform better than a human being.
To be continued…
