Sibsteklo increased glass waste processing capacity

Dear colleagues, we are publishing news about a member of the Association "StekloSouz" of Russia LLC Siberian Glass (Sibsteklo):

Siberian Glass LLC (the largest manufacturer of glass containers beyond the Urals, an asset of RATM Holding) put into operation the first stage of a technological complex for processing cullet with a total capacity of 180 thousand tons of secondary raw materials per year. The total investment in the project is about 200 million rubles.

Recall that it is technologically more difficult to produce glass containers without cullet, its use improves the quality of glass. The melting point of glass waste is lower than mixtures of sand, soda and dolomite: every 10% of recycled materials reduce energy consumption by 3%, as a result, and carbon dioxide emissions into the atmospheric air. With a decrease in energy consumption, the service life of glass melting furnaces is extended from 7-10 to 12-15 years. In addition, one ton of cullet replaces 1.2 tons of natural components, thereby slowing down the rate of depletion of mineral reserves and the accumulation of MSW in landfills.

According to Anton Mor, general director of Sibsteklo, the capacity of the first stage is 60,000 tons of secondary raw materials per year, which is three times more than on a semi-automatic conveyor line for preparing cullet.

– In order for glass waste to meet the requirements of glass manufacturing, it must first of all be cleaned of foreign inclusions, including metal ones, – comments Anton Mor. – As part of the first stage, magnetic separators were installed for sampling iron elements; mechanized supply of cullet is carried out along conveyor belts, double crushing - using special machines. Thus, now we are significantly improving the characteristics of glass waste - in particular, thanks to this, the metal will not get into the furnace pool and will not settle on the bottom, which could cause corrosion of the refractory lining.

The second stage of the project will be launched within six months:

“Replacing manual operations with automatic ones, we will equip the technological complex with drying drums, eddy current separation equipment that removes non-ferrous metals, and optical sorters that separate cullet by color,” says Anton Mor. – As a result, the glass waste processing capacity will increase to 180 thousand tons per year.

According to the president of RATM Holding, Eduard Taran, the environmental and commercial feasibility of involving end-of-life glass in the industrial circulation is obvious and correlates with the principles of the circular economy. The solution at the state level of infrastructural problems affecting the volume of recycling will ensure a stable supply of cullet. Currently, Chistaya Strana LLC (formerly Glass Recycling, an asset of RATM Holding), in the interests of Sibstekl, is expanding the geography of glass waste collection: their share in the composition of the raw mix has grown to 35%, and up to 40% are already used for the production of brown containers. % recycled. The goal of the next two years is to increase this value to 60%.