Glass Recycling Plant Opens in Ireland

Glassco Recycling has officially opened a €5 million (US$7.5 million) recycling facility in Ireland. The grand opening was Feb. 26.

The plant will initially handle 50,000 metric tons of bottles and jars a year. The plant will be the first of its kind in Ireland to use optical color sorting technology, which enables the company to efficiently sort mixed waste glass by color. The company intends to recycle other glass products such as plate glass in the near future, which is currently not being recycled effectively in Ireland.

The new plant uses the latest generation of ceramic separators which effectively remove small pieces of ceramics, stones and porcelain which are detrimental to glass recycling. Small pieces of ceramics in recycled glass can render large amounts unusable for re-melting back into new bottles.

The company provides glass collection services to nearly 1,000 commercial organizations nationwide and will collect and recycle 30,000 metric tons of glass this year.