A partnership between two glass recycling stakeholders is expected to divert 210 million glass bottles from landfill every year. | Pjhpix/Shutterstock
Arglass Yamamura partnered with The Upcycling Company to feed its bottle factory and bring glass recycling access to 1.7 million residents in Georgia and Northern Florida.
Arglass Yamamura, a joint venture between Japanese bottle maker Nihon Yamamura Glass and investment company Cambium Arglass, in 2019 began building the first new U.S. glass bottle factory in decades in Valdosta, Ga. Now operational, the plant has an annual capacity of 100,000 metric tons of product. Some of that tonnage is recycled glass.
The Upcycling Company works to build better landfill diversion systems for glass across the U.S.
According to the Valdosta Daily Times, the strategic venture between the two companies will create an efficient glass collection network that is vertically integrated with cullet processing and glass manufacturing.
Derrick Standley, chief executive officer of The Upcycling Company, said in a press release that the partnership will divert 210 million glass bottles from landfill annually and provide about 40,000 metric tons of material for Arglass.
“Over time, recycling rates of 75% or more are possible with effective collection and processing programs and we’re excited to partner with Arglass on the next generation of cullet recovery,” Standley added.
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