‘Most modern’ glass recycling on the way in Romania

Romanian firm Greenglass Recycling is investing EUR 10 million in a post-consumer glass recycling plant. The company believes this will boost its annual processing capacity to 260 000 tonnes per year.

The new recycling hub will be constructed near the country’s capital of Bucharest and is scheduled to be completed in 2023. Besides handling glass packaging such as bottles and jars, the new plant will also recycle flat glass from the automotive industry and from construction and demolition. It is expected to create more than 100 local jobs during the construction phase and 90 permanent roles once it is complete.

The recycler says that some of the funds will go towards modernising its existing facilities with the expansion and upgrading strategy vital to an ambition to pursue ‘the most modern recycling technologies’ which includes opto-electronic sorting equipment. As a result, Greenglass will deliver recycled glass cullet with a high degree of purity – at least 99.99%.

Most material is collected via Romania’s deposit return scheme. Once the new plant opens its doors, Greenglass is confident it will be able to recycle enough glass necessary for the country to meet its national collection target of 90% by 2030.

‘We are responding to the growing demand from glass manufacturers to increase the share of recycled material in their products, in order to reduce the use of virgin materials,’ says Marius Costache, general manager at Greenglass. ‘We aim to create a truly circular economy in Romania, both for packaging glass waste but also for glass waste resulting from other streams.’

Costache envisions further investment in the central-west area of Romania to optimise the operations that are part of the glass collection and recycling system, meaning closer proximity to generators of waste, lower logistics costs, and less CO2 emissions.

Meanwhile, recent Statista figures indicate that glass production across Europe has increased significantly in recent years and was over 35 million tonnes in 2020.