O-I Glass restarts glass furnace at its Waco, Texas, plant

Bottle manufacturer O-I Glass fired up a formerly idled furnace at its Waco, Texas, USA, plant, restarting the furnace about a year after it was idled, company spokesman Jim Woods said. The plant, which opened in 1944 and is one of O-I’s oldest, now has all three of its furnaces operating.

According to Woods, “Each of these furnaces produce glass containers within the specifications of their customers, including the use of recycled glass.”

Restarting the furnace was driven by increased demand for beer and liquor bottles. It appears that the pandemic has slowed or halted business at restaurants and bars in the region resulting in more people drinking at home, increasing demand for bottles.

Woods also noted how, globally, O-I Glass’ packaging contains an average of 38 percent recycled content.

In November 2019, O-I Glass took out a “Green Bond” worth about 500 million EUR to finance sustainability initiatives.One year later, the company provided an update on how the money was being spent. O-I noted that much of it went to purchasing recycled cullet, reducing the manufacturer’s energy consumption.