Viridor's £25m glass recycling plant has opened in N Lanarkshire, Scotland, and will cater to the country's whisky bottle industry. The plant can recycle 200,000/tonnes of glass per year and, according to Viridor, is one of three glass recycling centres in the world that can accommodate such capacity. The Newhouse, N Lanarkshire plant will aim to ease Scotland's reliance on imported cullet for whisky and spirits bottles and will ensure all cullet is fit to be recycled back into the container glass manufacturing process. The new plant will recover up to 97% of input materials and achieve up to 99% product purity. The facility has created 30 full time jobs and houses 15 scientific eye optical sorters, x-ray sorters, and 500 metres of conveyor belts. Viridor has expanded its glass operation as part of a £357m investment in recycling and renewable energy infrastructure in Scotland over the past two years. Ian McAulay, Viridor CEO said: "This latest investment will help drive glass recycling and the sustainability of Scotch whisky.
