Major Contract Award to Secure the Recycling of 2 Million
Tonnes of Reclaimed Glass
Recresco Ltd, a leading national recycling company, has just announced it has been
awarded a 10 year contract by Quinn Glass Ltd, one of Britain’s leading manufacturer of
glass bottles, to supply 2 million tonnes of recycled glass cullet over the next 10 years to
their Cheshire plant. The new £100 million pound contract will ensure a very large
volume of recycled glass will be used in the production of new glass bottles with major
benefits to the environment.
Recresco has established three cutting edge glass processing centres in the UK, each
employing the latest technology with the ability to produce colour separated glass from
mixed glass to the rigorous quality standards set by Quinn.
Tim Gent, a Director of Recresco, said “the award of this contract is possibly one of the
most significant events in terms of glass recycling in the last ten years. Importantly it
clearly demonstrates that through continuous development of new technologies and
investment in new processing plants, Recresco is able to provide large quantities of
recycled glass of the highest quality and purity”.
The new contract underlines the fact that there is a very large market for mixed glass
that is efficiently colour separated. More than 90% of the mixed glass processed by
Recresco is destined for the production of new glass bottles and glass containers. The
residue that cannot be colour separated is processed into alternative products with
benefits to the environment. This ensures minimum wastage throughout the whole
process.
All of the glass supplied under the contract will have been collected within the UK,
mainly through recycling activities by local authorities via kerbside collection schemes
and bottle banks. Increasingly glass is being purchased from commercial operators who
bulk glass at Transfer Loading Stations (TLS). One area proving difficult to utilise is the
reclaimed glass collected in mixed material schemes whereby the recycling process
requires waste to pass through a series of mechanical treatments. The resulting glass
cullet is mostly too small to be colour separated and re-used in production of glass
products.
Recently discussions have taken place on the benefits of collecting glass that has been
colour separated at source versus mixed glass collections. The award of the Quinn
contract demonstrates that there is also a sustainable market for mixed glass at
competitive prices. Ninety percent of the mixed glass purchased by Recresco and
colour sorted at their plants is used to manufacture new glass bottles.
Recresco is a family business that has been recycling glass for more than thirty years.
Over the last decade the company has developed unique services for the cost effective
collection of plastic bottles and beverage cartons from Bring Banks. The company’s
Managing Director Graham Gent said “the company will continue to develop new
technologies, make significant investment in new facilities, provide benefit to suppliers
and create a dynamic working environment for our employees who are important to the
success of the business”.
Quinn Glass Ltd is an important part of the Irish based Quinn Group. The manufacturing
plant located on a 205 acre site at Ince in Cheshire represents a major investment.
Opened in 2006 at a cost of £300 million pounds the plant not only manufactures but
also provides a comprehensive glass packaging, filling and distribution service for the
drinks industry. The plant incorporates one of the largest fully automated warehouses in
Europe capable of handling 282,000 pallets of filled or unfilled containers. It is the most
technically advanced glass bottle production plant in Europe.
Production is centred on two furnaces each with a 600 tonne melt capacity supporting
13 production lines. The capacity of the plants is around 310,000 tonnes per year of
glass.
Protecting the environment is high on Quinn’s agenda which is one of the reasons why
the company is increasingly turning to the use of recycled glass in its production
process.
Mr Adrian Curry, a director of Quinn said “the supply contract with Recreso Ltd was only
signed after careful evaluation of their ability to meet our extremely high quality
standards. For example, we demand almost 100% contaminate free glass; otherwise
we risk reducing the quality of our product and interrupting our production process. We
have worked with Recresco for a number of years and in this time we have established
a close working relationship with them”. He went on to say “that this landmark contract
not only provides considerable benefit to both Quinn Glass and Recresco Ltd” it does
much to sustain the long term demand for recycled Glass”.
ENDS