The new automated production line will include a crushing plant, an optical and x-ray sorting facility to detect impurities in recycled glass streams.
The new crushing plant – an upgrade on one presently in place – will complete 15 months of commissioning and installing, and is due to be up-and-running by mid-2007.
”By crushing waste container glass in a tightly controlled environment we can achieve a purer product. This means that we get a higher yield from every tonne of glass we process.“
-Jamie McBride, Viridor
The X-ray machine is the country's first Mogenson-designed unit. It uses x-rays to identify non-glass pieces by their density.
Particle data received from the X-ray sensor is analysed by a computer, which then makes a decision on whether the particle is glass.
If it decides to reject the piece, it forwards this information to compressed-air valves, which blow it from the production line.
This is important when trying to identify pyro-ceramic glass, which is non-recyclable and heat resistant, so does not melt easily in furnaces.
Jamie McBride, operations manager of Viridor Glass Recycling, said: “We are looking forward to the installation of a pioneering new crushing system which will complete our new production line.”
Yield
“By crushing waste container glass in a tightly controlled environment we can achieve a purer product. This means that we get a higher yield from every tonne of glass we process, which is good for our customers and ourselves,” Mr McBride added.
Viridor Glass Recycling, which is part of Viridor Waste Management, recycles more than 95,000 tonnes of container and flat glass, at Bonnyrigg each year.
The company, which is based in St Helen's, Lancashire, sends two thirds of its recyclate to Scotland’s fibre glass producers.
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