Nulife Glass to invest $5.9 million to establish first Virginia operation

RICHMOND - Governor Terry McAuliffe announced today that Nulife Glass will invest $5.9 million to establish its first Virginia operation in the City of Bristol. A Manchester, England-based company, Nulife provides a complete and sustainable recycling service for all types of cathode ray tube (CRT) glass. This unique solution extracts lead from the leaded glass fraction in CRTs, found in televisions and computer monitors. Virginia successfully competed against Ohio and Pennsylvania for the project, which will create 46 new jobs.

 “Nulife Glass’ new operation in the City of Bristol is a great win for Southwest Virginia,” said Maurice Jones, Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade. “The company will not only create new jobs, but it will put a formerly vacant facility back into productive use. The current demand for Nulife’s technology is very high, and this competitive project demonstrates that Virginia has a world class business environment, tremendous workforce and many other great assets.”

Nulife collects and separates cathode ray tube (CRT) televisions and computer monitors into saleable lead and glass. The company opened its first North American facility in 2013 near Buffalo, New York, which can process more than 200 million pounds of CRT glass annually in furnaces that can melt the equivalent of 10 tons of TVs each day. In addition to helping relieve the burden on landfills – many of which are not equipped to receive hazardous materials such as CRT leaded glass – Nulife has been cited for its unique pyro chemical technology, which makes it the only company globally that can safely recover both lead and glass for resale.

“We’re excited to be opening this new operation in Bristol,” said Simon Greer, President of Nulife Glass. We appreciate all the support from the Governor, the Tobacco Commission, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, Virginia’s aCorridor, and the tremendous assistance from the City of Bristol in making this project a reality.”

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. Governor McAuliffe approved a $110,000 grant from the Governor’s Opportunity Fund to assist Bristol with the project. 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,” said Joe Anwyl, Director of Economic Development for CCAM. “Following extensive work to secure this deal, CCAM is delighted that the UK technology leader has, with the help of The Commonwealth of Virginia, Virginia's aCorridor and the City of Bristol, decided to open a factory that will employ approximately 50 people in Bristol Virginia this winter.

“Today’s announcement is welcome news for the City of Bristol, and we appreciate the investments being made in our area by Nulife Glass,” said Delegate Israel O’Quinn. “Economic development fuels the success of Southwest Virginia, and we continue our focus on bringing jobs and growth to our region.”