The plant, which is owned by Dryden Aqua, will cost 500,000 to build and equip. Its owners say it will be the first in the world to produce Advanced Filtration Media (AFM) from recycled glass.
The Dryden Aqua factory will use up to 20,000 tonnes of brown and green container glass per year. AFM is used in a number of applications including the treatment of sewage, leachate in landfill operations, filtration for 40 Scottish swimming pools and in fish farms around the world.
Partnership
The project began more than 3 years ago as a partnership between Dryden, Mac Glass, Remade Scotland and the Business Environmental Partnership. It is intended to stimulate market interest in the recycled glass as an alternative to sand in filtration equipment.
Funding for research and development for the project has been provided by WRAP, which provided 237,500, Viridor, EB Scotland, and an EU Life-Environment Award, worth 130,000 over three years.
Remade Scotland has supported the project by providing a network of suppliers for the facility and an end market for glass reprocessors.
Performance
A spokesman for Remade Scotland said of the glass: “Its performance is much better than filtration sand. It's still more expensive but we are hoping as the market takes off, the price will reduce. And even though it's expensive, with sand you have to use coagulants which bind tiny particles in the water together so the filtration can pull them out. Glass does not need these coagulants.”
Other benefits of using glass rather than sand include better water clarity and a more environmentally sustainable product.
Scottish Water is currently running an AFM trial on drinking water filtration. Applications have been passed to the Drinking Water Inspectorate to certify the product and a response is expected by the start of 2005.
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