A leading European glass recycling company has announced a significant investment in a program expected to inch it closer to its goal of a 100% recycling rate.
As detailed by Environment+Energy Leader, Maltha, a Renewi subsidiary, has poured €2.89 million ($3.14 million) into a polyvinyl butyral recycling initiative at its Lommel, Belgium, facility.
As Maltha points out on its website, "waste really does not need to exist" when it comes to glass, which is durable and long-lasting and can be recycled without a loss in quality. The company's "advanced processing techniques" also require less energy, saving money and reducing the amount of planet-warming carbon pollution generated by such operations.
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Giving me money back 💰 However, polyvinyl butyral, or PVB — a thin plastic film frequently used on laminated glass, such as car windshields — is more difficult to recycle, so it generally ends up in the trash, contributing to the growing crisis of nonbiodegradable waste that is overtaking our planet.
Even if plastic waste ends up in a landfill, there is no guarantee it will stay there, as wind, storms, and other weather events can disperse it to drains, rivers, and waterways, which lead to the ocean. Cancer-linked microplastics can also leach into surrounding environments.
According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, experts predict "there could be more plastic than fish in the oceans" by 2050 unless we take action.
On an individual level, that can mean buying plastic-free alternatives to everyday products. Meanwhile, companies such as Maltha are proving how beneficial eco-friendly initiatives can be to bottom lines, as its PVB recycling program is expected to "meet strong market demand" for "valuable secondary raw materials," per E+E Leader.
The Lommel facility processes around 6,614 tons of PVB each year, and Maltha estimates the initiative — 30% of which was funded by the Flemish government — will boost the site's recycling rate by 4.2%. The company's overall recycling rate should rise 0.4% to 97.8%, as the new PVB process and recycling tech enable it to separate additional glass from PVB.
"We are thrilled to make this investment in PVB recycling," Maltha managing director Kevin Bell said in a news release. "Maltha is committed to help advancing the circular economy across a range of industries in Europe. This achievement is also perfectly aligned with our waste-to-product strategy and our focus on recycling."
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