New Glass Recycling Center Opens in Scotland

United Glass has opened an updated recycling center at Kelliebank in Alloa, Scottland.

This follows United Glass’s £1.3 million ($2,019,407) investment of Packaging Recovery Note money in state of the art glass processing plant and a new visitor center. Dr. Richard Simpson, MSP for Ochil, opened the center at an event attended by representatives from local authorities, recycling organizations, SEPA and other government environmental bodies.

Simpson said, “I welcome this initiative and investment which shows United Glass’s confidence in developing further recycling throughout Scotland, as well as confidence in UK manufacturing and Alloa in particular.”

United Glass Managing Director Steve Hammond said, “We are proud to be able to open this new facility for recycling in Scotland today. We have worked hard with local authorities and other interested parties to develop a color-separated glass collection system in Scotland.”  However, Hammond added, that with total tonnage seemingly stuck at roughly 50,000 metric tons, much remains to be done. “We will be able to use a lot more than this at the Alloa glass packaging plant,” he said.

Hammond continued, “Reusing glass packaging waste to make new bottles and jars is the most sustainable form of glass recycling. Glass recycled in this way can be used time and again without any deterioration in the quality and integrity of the new containers produced.

“We are aware of the development of other end uses for recycled glass, such as road fill and for aggregates. It will be important that the promotion of these alternatives does not jeopardize the well-established color-separated bottle bank system.” Hammond said.

United Glass first helped to establish glass recycling in Scotland at the end of the 1970s and opened the original Kelliebank facility in 1980. Hammond said United Glass also is backing glass recycling in Scotland through its subsidiary British Glass Recycling Company’s discussions with suppliers about scheme expansion.

“In addition, whenever we rebuild and redesign a glass furnace now, we plan for an increased percentage of recycled glass in the raw material batch,” Hammond said. “So we are counting on the on-going support of our suppliers and the various environmental agencies to enable us to continue to play our part in meeting the requirements of the Scottish Waste Strategy.”

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The project has comprised the complete rebuild and automation of the plant, increasing its potential output of furnace-ready recycled glass to more than 100,000 metric tons a year. In raising the throughput of the recycling plant, it has been essential to further reduce contaminant residues, such as ceramics, to ensure that the stringent glass quality and color standards set by United Glass’s distilled spirits, drinks and food customers are maintained. The fully automated process incorporates new crushing and screening equipment to produce a more consistent particle size and a system that detects and removes ceramic contaminants.

To further promote recycling, United Glass has created a new visitor and education center in the adjacent Kelliebank House. This will enable UG and BGRC to host organizations interested in boosting recycling rates throughout Scotland and effectively to communicate the benefits of turning packaging waste into new bottles and jars.