More than 75 jobs will go as Caroma ends 73 years of plastics manufacturing history at its Norwood factory.

Caroma is a world leader in toilet cisterns and bathroom products, making the world’s first water-saving dual-flush unit.

Production will be moved offshore.

Caroma’s parent company GWA Group announced the closure in a statement to the stock exchange Wednesday morning, telling staff at Norwood at the same time.

“The Norwood plastics operation will be phased out over the next three years, with approximately 76 positions to be made redundant,” the statement said.

“The remaining SA staff will be transferred to another facility in Adelaide by 2017.”

Staff were told not to talk to the media, but there was no doubting the atmosphere of disappointment.

“It’s pretty down here at the moment; and we’ve been told not to talk to the media,” one worker told InDaily.

“It’s a tough day.”

There was little work being done as workers gathered in small groups to digest the news.

“My jobs gone for sure,” one said as they tried to work out which jobs would stay and which would go.

The closure is part of a company-wide restructure as it sources platsics and vitreous china products from overseas suppliers.

Nationally 164 jobs will go, around 10 per cent of GWA’s 1671 workforce.

The 76 jobs targeted at Norwood are part of what was once a 200 employee operation that turned over more than $80 million annually.

In May 2012 the company sold its Caroma building, but retained a lease over the property which expires in 2017.

Since 2012 the operation has been scaled down with 90 people currently on the books.

“Staff were told this morning and it’s a shame, but as with a lot of Australian manufacturing, it’s a sad story,” a company representative told InDaily.

“Employees will be entitled to full redundancy packages and we’ll also provide counselling and assistance with finding new jobs.”

By the time of Norwood’s closure there will be only 15 Caroma workers remaining, operating a warehouse that will distribute Caroma products made overseas.

The company said the redundancies and asset writedowns associated with factory closures are expected to cost around $29 million.

Caroma has been a world leader in toilet cistern technology, boasting the first two-button flush toilet in 1982.

The Norwood operation has won more than 50 design awards and holds around 100 patents.

It’s story began in the 1940s with a plastic syringe and an Austrian immigrant.

“In 1949 penicillin injections were being used to treat most bacterial infections, but penicillin tended to clog up glass syringes and make them hard to clean,” the Powerhouse Museum’s 60 years of Caroma exhibition noted.

“To solve the problem, Austrian immigrant, Charles Rothauser, created the world’s first plastic, disposable hypodermic syringe at his Adelaide factory.

“He made the first syringes in polyethylene. However, because polyethylene softens with heat, the syringes had to be chemically sterilised prior to packaging, which made them expensive.

“In 1951 Rothauser produced the first injection- moulded syringes made of polypropylene, a plastic that can be heat-sterilised. Millions were made for Australian and export markets.

“In 1956 Rothauser, renamed his plastics company “Caroma” and began manufacturing bathroom products, including the world’s first one-piece plastic toilet cistern.

“In the 1970s Caroma made plastic bathroom fittings fashionable with the Bathmates range, available in five colours – red, white, blue, yellow and brown.

“Caroma is perhaps best known for developing the dual flush toilet.

“In 1980, with $130 000 government assistance, Bruce Thompson of Caroma developed a cistern with two buttons and flush volumes (11.0 litres and 5.5 litres).

“Thompson’s Duoset cistern saved 32 000 litres of water a year per household when it was trialled in a small South Australian town.

“Caroma’s success led to legislation in every state to make dual volume toilets compulsory in new buildings.”

Caroma continued its research and development work at Norwood and in 1994 the company completely redesigned the toilet in stylish porcelain in a modern ‘organic shape’.

Its 6 and 3 litre dual flush cistern and matching bowl halved the amount of water normally flushed away.

The company’s main manufacturing plant is based at Wetherill Park in Sydney; it’s now set to close

The Sydney factory makes vitreous china toilet pans and cisterns, the main raw material being clay.

The process takes several days, as the wet clay dries slowly and is then glazed and fired in a large kiln.

Norwood makes plastic cistern parts, plastic toilet seats, and some plastic cisterns.