The waste management company made the link as it reported that 2010 was a “bumper year” for recycling in Scotland, where it operates a large network of recycling facilities.
The glass bottles were recovered at Virdor's state-of-the art glass recycling depot at Bonnyrigg, Midlothian. The site takes glass from 18 councils across the country in addition to serving private sector customers at locations ranging from the Scottish borders and the central belt up to the Scottish Highlands.
Once received, Viridor uses advanced technology to sort and separate the glass, removing impurities such as china and Pyrex before crushing and blending into cullet for remanufacture. This is then used to make new glass products, insulation for Scottish homes, or aggregate for Scottish roads.
Digital
The company also reported the recycling of over 350,000 televisions – a 60% year-on-year increase as Scots upgraded for the World Cup and as part of the digital switchover. The TVs, along with a broad range of electrical and electronic equipment including 230,000 fridges from 96% of Scotland's local authorities are processed at Viridor's WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) authorised treatment facility at Friarton Bridge site in Perth where 95% of components are recycled for remanufacture.
Martin Grey, Scottish communications manager for Viridor, said: “2010 has been a bumper year for recycling in Scotland. The Scottish Government has set ambitious targets and as Scots we're responding well.”
2011
Commenting on the challenges for 2011, Mr. Grey added: “Our bumper year for recycling is good news for sustainability in Scotland and marks a key milestone on the road to delivering the Scottish Government's zero waste strategy but we're not resting on our laurels. We're already seeing an increase in the volume of recycling of ‘big ticket' items as consumers rush to replace old items and beat the VAT increase but Zero Waste won't happen without a network of new ‘next generation' green infrastructure on the ground.
“That's why to continue making progress Viridor is supporting the public and private sectors meet ambitious targets by investing up to £800 million in Scotland in the latest advanced technologies to recycle more and recover renewable energy from what remains.”
In February 2010, Viridor announced plans to invest £800m in ‘next generation' recycling and waste infrastructure in Scotland (see letsrecycle.com story).
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