Owens Illinois (O-I) is closing its cullet sorting plant in Alloa, Scotland, and will instead buy its cullet from Viridor’s new £25 million plant located nearby in Newhouse.
O-I has agreed a seven year contract with Viridor, under which it will buy its sorted cullet from Viridor while continuing to collect recycled glass direct from Local Authorities.
O-I will then deliver this cullet for processing to the Viridor plant.
O-I’s existing sorting plant will become a logistics platform for the collection of cullet for councils contracted to O-I, who would prefer to deliver to Alloa than Newhouse.
A total of 12 jobs will be lost at O-I as a result of the change.
Rens de Haan, Country Group Leader for O-I in the UK and Netherlands, said the partnership with Viridor would improve the quality of the glass cullet supplied to O-I, due to Viridor’s advanced optical sorting technology.
He said: “This will also contribute further to our sustainability efforts. We expect the Newhouse plant to supply all the cullet we can use for the foreseeable future.”
O-I produces millions of whisky and beverage bottles for Scotland’s drinks industry each year at its Alloa site, and expects to benefit from the improved level of contaminant free cullet that Viridor will provide, especially for flint (clear) glass.
Source: www.letsrecycle.com/news/latest-news/o-i-transfers-glass-recycling-to-viridor/
