Glass recycler Viridor has completed a £2 million modernisation at its Salmon Pastures, UK site.
The facility encompasses 12 optical sorters, more than a mile of specialist conveyor belts and three floors of processing towers all of which refine the quality of the glass.
The investment added a further four advanced optical sorters that use X-ray and infrared technology to sort the glass, filtering out unwanted items such as ceramics, stones, porcelain (CSP), plastics, leaded glass, glass ceramic and metals from the end product; glass cullet.
As a result of the investment the facility has successfully achieved the ‘End of Waste’ accreditation for the glass produced.
The Sheffield facility joins the elite ranks of only two processing facilities of this kind in the UK.
Sheffield MP, Clive Betts, visited the site to celebrate the occasion.
The site recycles 97% of the material arriving on site, working with partners to ‘complete the glass recycling loop’ for brands such as Heineken, Budweiser, Jacobs Creek wines and the Scotch Whisky industry as well as food and pharmaceutical packaging for brands such as Gaviscon. The facility manages the equivalent of 132 million wine bottles each year
The facility also supports the local economy providing 24 full time jobs and two apprenticeships in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering to HNC level.
Richard Jenkins, Viridor’s Regional Director for North, added: “We were delighted to welcome Clive to what is one of the UK’s most advanced glass recycling facilities and to mark our latest £2m investment to keep Sheffield at the cutting edge of this circular economy success story.
"Glass is infinitely recyclable and recycling makes a clear economic, environmental and social contribution to the region.”
