Glass container manufacturers advocate 100 percent recycling from early 2022

This was stated by Sergey Lukyantsev, director for development of Siberian Glass LLC (an asset of RATM Holding), Deputy Chairman of the Ecology Committee of the Association “National United Council of Glass Industry Enterprises“ StekloSouz ”of Russia” at the round table “Recycling of raw materials. Waste recycling ”, organized by the information and analytical publication Infopro54.Ru.

Sibsteklo is the largest consumer of glass waste beyond the Urals, and the only one in the Novosibirsk region. The enterprise is capable of utilizing up to 200 thousand tons of cullet per year, increasing its share in the composition of the raw mixture to 80%, today it is equal to 30%.

“We are trying to change the ratio in favor of cullet, one of the constraining factors is the price,” says Sergei Lukyantsev, calling it the limit. “The factories cannot pay more, since the secondary raw materials are already more expensive than natural materials: in Russia, sand, limestone, dolomite, feldspar are cheaper than, for example, in Europe, and their reserves will be enough for several generations to come.

However, the use of cullet, the melting point of which is lower than that of mineral components, allows minimizing the technogenic impact on the environment - reducing energy consumption and, as a result, CO2 emissions, as well as reducing the volume of disposal of useful waste fractions at MSW landfills, where glass gets along with mixed waste. contaminated and shattered into fragments in compactor trucks.

“We have high requirements for the characteristics of cullet, and the suppliers are not yet ready to bear the processing costs,” noted Sergey Lukyantsev.

Recall that by 2023, Sibstekl plans to stage-by-stage launch a modern technological complex for processing glass waste with a capacity of 14 tons per hour, including the stage of optical separation. Investments will amount to 100 million rubles.

Forming the flow of secondary resources, in addition to interacting with operators of MSW landfills and operators for handling MSW, from whom it purchases glass waste, the company places containers for the selective accumulation of MSW; in Khabarovsk and Irkutsk, they organized bases where cullet is delivered from the cities of the Far East and Eastern Siberia and then sent to the plant, cooperates with the HoReCa sector (picks up glass containers from restaurants, hotels, entertainment complexes), and also opened glass collection points from individuals and legal entities ...

As Sergey Lukyantsev explained, the model of reusing container glass for its intended purpose is not viable in the current economic realities:

- Beverage manufacturers protect their brands from counterfeiting due to the unique design of bottles, they do not need strangers, it is impractical to sort them. Thus, it is impossible to unify glass containers, although, probably, it would be easier and more profitable for glaziers to continuously produce identical glass products than, purchasing different mold sets, for several hours to reconfigure lines to produce a different assortment. But the variety of glass packaging meets the needs of the customers.

According to Sergei Lukyantsev, there is no shortage of capacities for recycling glass waste in Russia, but there is catastrophically insufficient capacities for their full processing (cleaning from unacceptable inclusions, hardware separation by color, etc.). - And therefore there is not enough cullet - of the proper quality and at an acceptable cost.

Legislative solutions currently under consideration, including the introduction from January 1, 2022, of a 100% packaging recycling standard provided for by the Concept for Improving the Institute of Extended Responsibility of Producers (EPR) and Importers of Goods and Packaging (approved in December 2020), will contribute to the involvement of waste , including glass, into economic circulation and the creation of a closed-cycle economy.

- The receipt of funds from the ecological collection will sooner or later grow, and, moreover, multiple, - the expert comments. - The mechanisms for administering EPR entities and distributing support for the intended purpose will regulate, perhaps part of the money will be directed to subsidizing the transportation of sorted waste to the processing and disposal sites. We hope that all this will stimulate potential participants in the "cycle" of glass to join this chain and it will generate income. There are many questions about the implementation of EPR now, but the answers to them will be found in the process of interaction between business, government and society. Delaying the reform is fraught with aggravation of problems in the sphere of MSW management.

Press Service of RATM Holding

As you know, Sibsteklo LLC is a member of the StekloSouz Association of Russia.