Europe’s most advanced glass recycling site planned

Viridor’s glass recycling site at Bonnyrigg, Midlothian, is set to become home to ‘Europe’s most advanced glass recycling infrastructure’ following a £6 million investment by the waste management firm.

The company is installing technology to sort mixed glass according to colour, allowing it to be returned to its original streams for re-melt, whilst any contaminated material will be rejected.

Viridor has already installed similar glass sorting technology at its Sheffield facility

The facility will use the latest generation ‘electronic eye and air jet’ separation technology. It is understood this is being provided by German-based manufacturer Mogensen, however a contract has yet to be signed.

Viridor's Bonnyrigg site already features a £3 million glass recycling facility which handles up to 100,000 tonnes of container and plate glass every year, from both material recycling facilities (MRFs) and source separated collections. The facility handles glass from 18 local authorities, which, once processed, is supplied to Scottish container remanufacture, insulation and aggregate sectors.

The new technology will increase the facility’s capacity to 140,000 tonnes-a-year.

Commenting on the investment, Richard Lochhead, Scotland’s cabinet secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, said: “Zero waste isn’t simply about high rates of recycling, it’s about extracting the most value we can from items that can be recycled.  Closed loop recycling – glass going back to glass – reduces our consumption of raw materials and helps reduce carbon emission.

“This £6million technology Viridor is investing in will mean that glass can potentially be recycled an infinite number of times, a win-win for our planet and our economy.”

The facility will be decommissioned in March 2012 with the new facility expected to be operational in September 2012.

Scotland

Viridor hopes the improved infrastructure will increase the quality of material available for Scottish companies and enhance sustainability.

The company is currently investing £0.5 billion in green infrastructure designed to help Scotland achieve its Zero Waste goal.

Viridor’s Scottish regional director, Colin Paterson, said: “This latest investment will not only bring world leading infrastructure to Scotland, but will place us at the forefront of European glass recycling capabilities.

“Glass recycling is a real Scottish success story and in addition to meaning more high quality product is available for remanufacture in Scotland, supporting everything from Irn Bru to Scotch whisky, this investment will enable councils and companies to enhance sustainability.”

Viridor’s investment comes after glass recprocessors last month warned that more glass sorting infrastructure would be needed if plans to split glass packaging recycling targets according to end use are introduced.