Nulife Glass Recycling Group, headquartered in the U.K., has announced plans to invest $5.9 million to build a cathode ray tube (CRT) recycling facility in Bristol, Virginia. Nulife’s process extracts the lead from the glass found in CRTs.
Nulife says it designs, builds and operates furnaces incorporating innovative recycling technology that allows the company to extract toxic lead from glass in a sustainable way. Nulife says it can process up to 10 metric tons of funnel glass per day. Additionally, the company says the process can prevent the export of CRTs.
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe says, “I am thrilled to announce this new project for Bristol, which will create new jobs in a region that has experienced challenging economic headwinds. In order to build a new Virginia economy, we must continue to recruit innovative companies like Nulife Glass to locate in the commonwealth. Nulife provides a valuable service that benefits the environment, businesses and citizens, and we are grateful for its investment in Virginia.”
Nulife opened its first North American facility in 2013 near Buffalo, New York. That facility can process more than 200 million pounds of CRT glass each year in furnaces that can melt the equivalent of 10 tons of televisions daily, according to the company.
The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with the city of Bristol, the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CCAM) and Virginia’s aCorridor to secure the project for Virginia.
To assist in the project, McAuliffe approved a $110,000 grant from the Governor’s Opportunity Fund. The Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission approved $190,000 in Tobacco Region Opportunity Funds for the project. Funding and services to support the company’s employee training activities will be provided through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program.
“When the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing learned that Nulife Glass was considering a second U.S. facility, we approached the company at their global headquarters in England,” says Joe Anwyl, CCAM director of Economic Development. “Following extensive work to secure this deal, CCAM is delighted that the U.K. technology leader has, with the help of the commonwealth of Virginia, Virginia’s a Corridor and the city of Bristol, decided to open a factory that will employ approximately 50 people in Bristol Virginia this winter.”