O-I Glass develops mobile glass processing system

O-I Glass Inc., Perrysburg, Ohio, says it has completed the development and testing of a new, low-cost mobile glass processing machine that can be transported and deployed easily to clean and crush recycled glass for use as recycled content.

The Mobile Glass Recycling Asset, or MOGRA, creates opportunities to recycle glass into furnace-ready glass where previously there was no infrastructure, the company says.

RELATED: O-I Glass invests in plant upgrades in France

“MOGRA builds on the long tradition of innovating the sustainable capabilities of glass packaging by enabling O-I to deploy full-service, closed-loop recycling programs with our customers and local communities while generating furnace-ready cullet for producing glass packaging with increased recycled content,” O-I Chief Sustainability and Corporate Affairs Officer Randy Burns says. “Through the agile, transformative capabilities of MOGRA, O-I is increasing our network capability to pursue our sustainability and recycling goals in an effective manner with a single asset.”

The company says MOGRA systems are engineered to fit on a truck trailer, enabling it to be moved and collocated at O-I facilities or other locations across the United States. The system can be unpacked, plugged in and operational within a single day, quickly processing glass packaging for recycling from brewers, distillers, bottlers or communities into localized raw material for making glass with recycled content.

O-I claims the mobility of the MOGRA system increases the viability of glass recycling by reducing logistical details, transportation costs and associated emissions. It has been engineered to crush glass to a specific size while removing any metallic content such as caps, closures and capsules, to improve the overall quality of the glass for recycling and can process up to 6,000 metric tons of glass packaging per year.

“As recycled content continues to be a priority in helping our customers to achieve their sustainability goals, innovative solutions from O-I will help the company to increase the cullet content of our glass packaging and advance the overall sustainability of our packaging options,” Burns says. “Glass is 100 percent and endlessly recyclable. By solving for gaps in processing glass for recycling, we are helping our glass packaging to live up to its full potential in the circular economy.”

O-I says it aims to increase the recycled content of its packaging to a global average of 50 percent.

“MOGRA has the potential to build on the flexibility of the flexible and modular capabilities of our MAGMA [Modular Advanced Glass Manufacturing Asset] production technology and can transform the footprint of glass production as it is done today,” Burns says. “For O-I, our journey to a sustainable future with glass packaging is paved by innovation.”