Ciner Glass unveils UK glass manufacturing plant plans

Ciner Glass has unveiled plans for a container glass manufacturing and recycling facility in the UK.

The proposed glass packaging site at the Rassau Industrial Estate in Ebbw Vale, Wales will create hundreds of jobs and ‘economic benefits for generations to come’, said Ciner Glass’ Board member Didem Ciner.

The group has submitted an Environmental Impact Assessment and is currently waiting the results of a scoping report by the local authority, Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council, which was due earlier this week.

“Ciner Glass intends to make a positive and long-term contribution to the future of Wales. We want to work constructively in partnership with the Welsh and UK Governments as well as other relevant stakeholders in the Valleys and across Wales. The hope is that the size and scale of this project can act as a catalyst to provide further innovation and investment to this area,” Mrs Ciner said.

In a letter to local leaders and the companies publics, she said if the proposed facility receives planning approval, the company intends to supply glass bottles to UK food and beverage producers.

“We already produce some of the lightest bottles in the world which reduces transportation costs. We believe South Wales is well positioned to serve the existing UK operations of our customers.

"We think it is important to cut the number of miles bottles have to travel to reach the customer. Our vision is to build a centre of engineering excellence in glass technology here in Wales which can compete with the best in the world.”

The organisation is committed to providing training and employment opportunities for local people. Its preferred strategy is to employ young people from the local community who do not have preconceived ideas about ‘old fashioned’ glass manufacturing.

It wants to hire people with open minds to whom it can share its values of working together as a family.

“We are proud of the intensive training and development programme we have created with our partners in Turkey and we will seek to replicate that in Wales.”

“Our plans for a new glass production facility can be integrated with the Welsh and UK Government’s vision for a sustainable, low-carbon circular economy.

"We also want to play our part in ensuring Wales is an acknowledged world leader in recycling. Glass is environmentally friendly and fully-recyclable.

“We are committed to sustainable production and improving the environment in everything we do. We support plans for a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) and are already planning to align the scheme with our investments to close the loop for the circular economy for glass.

“Ciner Glass is committed to cutting carbon emissions further and faster than our competitors. We are developing both short-term and long-term plans to reach the goal of carbon neutral production in the UK.”

Ciner Glass is headquarted in London, UK and is owned by the Turkish industrial organisation the Ciner Group.

The parent company owns the Park Cam glass manufacturing facility in Bilecik, Turkey, which itself was a greenfield construction.

The Ciner Group also owns the Eti Soda and Kazan Soda Electric sites in Turkey, which supply raw materials to the glass industry.