BEATSON Clark has splashed out £840,000 in a new recycling plant.
The company, which makes glass bottles and jars for the food, drink and pharmaceutical sectors, holds the contract to manage Rotherham’s recycling collections. Its recycling plant in the town receives 6,240 tonnes of mixed material from the council every year, of which 4,734 tonnes is glass.
Beatson Clark has installed a new automated recycling system which will make the process quicker and allow it to process more cullet (waste glass) for its furnaces. The new plant processes six tonnes of materials per hour – almost twice the three and a half tonnes that Beatson Clark could process previously.
Sorting was done manually but the new system has an optical sorting machine which uses light and cameras to sort glass of different colours and identify ceramics, stones and porcelain which can cause defects in the glass and damage the furnace if they’re not removed.
“Sourcing the right quantity of glass cullet can be difficult at times so our new, improved recycling plant will help to prevent us running short,” said Colin Saysell, Beatson Clark’s supply chain manager.
“Residents can help us too by only putting glass bottles and jars, metal cans and lids, and textiles and footwear in the blue box. They should not put Pyrex or pottery in as this won’t melt in our furnaces and can even cause damage and rejected bottles, wasting both glass and energy.”
