Water filtration firm seeks supply of recycled glass

Dryden Aqua Ltd of Bonnyrigg is currently seeking up to 500 tonnes of clean green or brown glass each month to make its water filtration product – Active Filter Media -and is willing to pay 30 per tonne for the material.

However, the company requires glass of between 3mm and 6mm, which is free of contaminants like metals or plastics. Local glass collectors have said it is not worth their while providing such volumes of processed glass.

The water filtration market could be important for reprocessing green glass, which has a generally lower demand from UK container manufacturers. Dryden Acqua has been working with WRAP to develop its product, and has also been supported by the European Commission.

The company is seeking both green and brown glass of at least 95% colour purity, but the glass needs to contain less than 1% flint (clear glass).

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The company's director told letsrecycle.com the barrier to getting hold of recycled glass could force projects like his abroad – potentially to the detriment of a market for waste glass that could be as much as 250,000 tonnes a year.

Howard Dryden said: “We have a pilot plant – just a pilot at this stage – with capacity which could go up to 20,000 tonnes a year – but we are finding it extremely difficult to get clean glass.

“We already have most of our enquiries abroad for our product, and unless we can get over this hurdle – and there will be other companies doing this kind of value-added product – this kind of operation may have to move abroad,” Mr Dryden said.

The company has been making water filtration products for 10 years, and sees recycled glass as the long-term replacement for the sand currently used. Mr Dryden said: “Believe it or not, the UK is running out of sand – or at least the kind that can be used for water filtration. Sand is not a sustainable resource.”

Andy Dawe of WRAP added: “We are doing what we can to help Dryden Aqua to locate a supplier, but ultimately a mutually acceptable commercial arrangement needs to be made. Furthermore, we are currently assessing bids received from businesses requesting capital support for processing recycled glass suitable for the filtration or other higher value markets.”