Disposal of glass bottles in Western Australia will no longer present problems thanks to the new plant run by Colmax opened by Environment Minister, Donna Faragher, on 26 August.
The complex, located…
Disposal of glass bottles in Western Australia will no longer present problems thanks to the new plant run by Colmax opened by Environment Minister, Donna Faragher, on 26 August. The complex, located in Kewdale, has been jointly funded by the Waste Authority and the National Environment Protection Council through the Australian Packaging Covenant. Colmax“s state-of-the-art facility transforms glass into high-value products suitable for a variety of uses, eliminating the need to send waste glass to South Australia. Our facility will process 20-50,000 tonnes of glass per annum – that“s the equivalent of 100-250 million stubbies (short glass beer bottles) – with the ramp up to full capacity being accomplished as quickly as possible, said Colmax“s chief strategy officer Susan Rousselot. We are looking to take all the Perth area glass and anything else that people can get to us cost effectively. The facility will process all the glass it receives, and will aim to have less than 2% waste by weight, ideally with virtually no glass going to the waste stream. At present, only about 15-20% of the state“s glass waste is considered high enough quality to be recycled, and must be shipped to South Australia for processing. We hope to triple or quadruple WA“s glass recycling rate, said Rousselot. The plant in WA will be – as far as we“re aware – the most comprehensive and state-of-the art glass recycling plant in the southern hemisphere. Thanks to a unique process, Colmax can transform even the lowest quality glass into high-value glass sand pure enough to go straight into bottles and insulation batts, as well as being used in applications such as road markings or swimming pool surfacing, blasting abrasives, water filtration and cement extender. The glass will be transported to the Colmax plant by councils and MRFs instead of taking a small part to the depot in Perth to be shipped on to South Australia and taking the greater part to landfill. It is in everyone“s mutual interest that the waste operators work with us as their recycling rates will rise dramatically and their costs will drop. A win for them, a win for us, a win for the environment, and a win for WA“s recycling rates, said Rousselot. Colmax is in discussions with the majority of the larger producers of waste glass in Perth and is confident that all the major players are already aware of the proposed facility and the opportunity to deal with their waste glass.