Luxembourg-based Ardagh Group has signed a 15-year agreement with West Yorkshire-based Reuse to expand glass recycling in the UK.
The company has joined forces with the Australian recycling and waste management company United Resource Management's subsidiary (URM) in a bid to increase the volume of cullet.
As part of the deal, initially, both the firms will invest around £5m in sorting and separation technology which enables better material recovery of glass by color from the waste stream.
In the initial stage of the process, removal of medium sized organic and loose ferrous metals will be performed and drying section follows to remove dust as well as smaller materials.
As part of the third step, removal of residual metallic, leaded glass and materials will be carried out at higher temperatures than container glass such as pyrex.
Finally, using advanced cleaning, purification and optical sorting techniques, proper cleaning of the remaining material will be carried out. Ardagh will use the end product known as 'cullet' to manufacture new bottles and jars.
The new technology allows to separate glass particles, which are as small as 4mm, compared to only 10mm with the previous technology.
Ardagh Glass Europe marketing head Sharon Crayton said the company was producing green bottles, which contain about 90% of recycleglass for many years.
"This new technology has put us at the forefront of UK recycling, helping us to significantly increase the recycled content for clear (flint) bottles and jars," Crayton added.
Reuse's new glass sorting and separation facilities hold an annual total capacity to process around 250,000t of waste glass.
The glass will be used mostly in North England in modern glass packaging.
