O-I Glass collected 2,690 tons of glass bottles around the Morumbi stadium, in São Paulo, during a Brazilian Championship football game.
The initiative took place in partnership with the Municipal Department of Urban Cleaning of the city of São Paulo, startup Grupo Seiva and non-governmental organisation Pimp My Carroça.
O-I installed five crushing machines, manufactured by Grupo Seiva, near the Morumbi stadium to collect post-consumer glass bottles.
The collection was aided by workers partnered with Cataki, the Pimp My Carroça app, which connects Brazilians to their local waste pickers.
With the support of the Municipal Department of Urban Cleaning, the waste was delivered to the correct destination, preventing it from reaching landfills in the city of São Paulo.
Alexandre Macário, Circular Economy Manager at O-I, said: “In less than 72 hours after the event, the bottles were back in the ovens to be transformed into new packaging.”
21,000 glass bottles, equivalent to 2,690 tons, were collected at the São Paulo vs Grêmio football game.
Mr Macário continued: “After the results of this first action, we want to expand this partnership model to other events in São Paulo and other states, especially those where we have factories, which facilitates logistics.
“Therefore, O-I is already in contact with companies that showed interest in supporting upcoming actions around the other stadiums.”
O-I is the largest glass recycler in the country and has industries located in the municipalities of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Recife and Vitória de Santo Antão.
