O-I Glass has completed development and testing of a transformative, low-cost mobile glass processing machine that is easily transported and deployed to clean and crush recycled glass to be used as recycled content. Dubbed “MOGRA” (MObile Glass Recycling Asset), the mobile processing system creates opportunities to recycle glass into furnace-ready glass where there was previously no infrastructure.
MOGRA systems are engineered to fit on a truck trailer, enabling it to be moved and co-located at O-I facilities or other locations anywhere, across the U.S. 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.
The mobility of the MOGRA system will help O-I to bring recycling capabilities to places where none currently exists, and:
• Recycle more glass
• Reduce logistical details
• Reduce transportation costs & associated emissions
MOGRA has been engineered to crush glass to a specified size, while removing any metallic content, such as caps, closures, and capsules, to improve the overall quality of the glass for recycling. The mobile system can process up to 6,000 metric tonnes of glass packaging per year.
O-I has the ambitious goal to increase the recycled content of its packaging to a global average of 50 percent. Glass is made with four basic ingredients, limestone, soda ash, silica sand and cullet (recycled glass). Increasing the volume of cullet used in glass production conserves natural resources and reduces the energy needed to produce glass packaging.
Cullet melts at a lower temperature, and every ten percent of recycled glass used reduces overall emissions by five percent. Each ton of cullet used to make glass packaging, conserves 1.6 tonnes of natural resources for future generations.
As part of the company’s vision to be the most sustainable, and chosen, supplier of brand-building packaging, O-I glass is transforming the way glass is made and recycled with innovative, breakthrough solutions.
“MOGRA has the potential to build on the flexibility of the flexible and modular capabilities of our MAGMA production technology and can transform the footprint of glass production as it is done today,” said Randy Burns, Chief Sustainability and Corporate Affairs Officer for O-I. “For O-I, our journey to a sustainable future with glass packaging is paved by innovation.”