Glassmaker Verallia has acquired five cullet treatment centres in an agreement with the Santaolalla Group to further its sustainable initiatives.
In Spain and Portugal, Verallia has finalised the acquisition of three companies of the Santaolalla Group: Ecosan Ambiental, Ecolabora and Vidrologic.
In doing so, it has taken over five new glass waste processing plants, both for industrial flat glass and hollow glass.
The main objective of the investment is to continue Verallia’s strategy of increasing the percentage of cullet use in its production process.
It will also progress the group towards its CO2 reduction target of a 46% reduction in emissions by 2030 compared to 2019.
With the purchase of Ecosan, Verallia now has four more cullet treatment centres, one located in Quer (Guadalajara), two in Burgos and one in Torrelavega (Santander).
With the acquisition of Ecolabora, Verallia is taking a bigger role in a pivotal stage of the recycling chain: the logistics of collecting glass for recycling.
Finally, with Vidrologic, Verallia has acquired another flat glass treatment centre, located in Anadia, Portugal.
Patrice Lucas, CEO of Verallia Group, said: “As a leader of our industry, we must be the ones to drive transformation, going further and faster by promoting a circular economy.
“This acquisition and the investment we are doing all over Europe to increase our cullet capacity treatment is fully aligned with our ESG roadmap.”
These five new cullet treatment centres join Verallia’s four existing plants in the Iberia peninsula.
Of these, two will be commissioned in 2023: Infiniver and Revimon in joint venture with TMA Recicla.
Infiniver, situated near Seville, boasts an annual capacity of 60 Ktons and can separate three-coloured glass.
It will primarily supply the Verallia Portugal plant but will also serve other factories within the group in Spain.
In Portugal, Verallia and TMA Recicla are finalising the start-up of the Revimon cullet processing centre, which is expected to begin operating in the fourth quarter of 2023.
It will support Verallia’s Figueira da Foz plant with a processing capacity of 70 Ktons and the ability to separate two-coloured glass.