Saint-Gobain Containers and eCullet Partner in Seattle to Boost Glass Recycling and Recycled Content

In South Seattle, Washington, a joint initiative between Saint-Gobain Containers, the nations’ largest manufacturer of wine bottles, and eCullet, developer of state-of-the-art camera sorting technology for processing recycled glass, will help produce new glass containers made with double the amount of recycled glass —increasing the recycled content from 17% to 35%— with the potential to increase more in the future.

"Since we produce millions of bottles per year at the plant, this is a critical step to help us reach our company-wide goal of using 50% recycled content by 2013," said Peter Walters, Vice President of Purchasing and Distribution for Saint-Gobain Containers.

The eCullet facility, in pilot phase of operation since May 2009, has ramped up since the ribbon cutting in September and is currently processing about 5,500 tons a month. When running at full capacity, they plan to deliver 7,500 - 8,000 tons a month of furnace-ready cullet to SGCI for making new glass bottles.

“Everything we process goes to Saint-Gobain,” said Farook Afsari, Chairman and Founder of eCullet. An independent facility, eCullet is located on space leased from SGCI near their manufacturing plant. “From the time the cullet is produced to the time it can be introduced into the batch is literally three to five minutes,” says Afsari. “This makes for an exceptional carbon footprint on the marketing side.”

And according to Walters, “the plant is already seeing substantial reductions in energy and energy costs.” For every 10% cullet used, SGCI is able to reduce energy costs by 4%. And using 10% more recycled glass has led to decreases in nitrogen oxide, a greenhouse gas, and reductions in raw materials. “Glass is endlessly recyclable,” said Walters. “Glass bottles and jars should never end up in a landfill.”

The environmental benefits of the technology extend to customers as well. SGCI's largest customer at the South Seattle plant in the Pacific Northwest is Ste. Michelle Winery located in Woodinville, WA. The increased recycled content in SGCI's bottles allows the Winery to further reflect its own commitment to sustainable practices.

Recycled glass is sourced through single stream curbside collection programs in Seattle and from material coming out of Vancouver, BC’s bottle deposit program. eCullet also has plans to accept recycled glass from curbside programs in Vancouver. “We’re capable of taking color sorted or mixed glass,” said Afsari. “The technology is flexible enough to sort various color mixes and take out all the ceramics and other contaminants.” More