Visy has unveiled a major $50 million upgrade to its glass recycling factory in Laverton, Melbourne.
At capacity the modernised plant – which was officially opened by Victorian Minister for Environment Steve Dimopoulos and Visy Chairman Anthony Pratt – can recycle all of Victoria’s recyclable glass.
“This is an important upgrade for Victoria and Visy on our way to manufacturing new glass bottles and jars made with an average of 70 percent recycled content,” says Mr Pratt.
“But we’re not simply manufacturers. We’re actually in the landfill avoidance because recycling and remanufacturing are important weapons against climate change.”
The project will double Visy’s glass recycling capability in Victoria, recycling up to 200,000 tonnes of glass annually.
The investment will also support local industry and local jobs.
The upgrade is part of Pratt’s 2021 commitment to invest $2 billion over the ensuing decade to reduce landfill, cut emissions and create thousands of green collar Australian manufacturing jobs.
“Using recycled content in glass manufacturing lowers greenhouse gas emissions,” Mr Pratt said.
A Visy glass container with 70% recycled content uses up to 30% less energy to make than a container with no recycled content.
The Laverton factory will use 20 new state-of-the-art optical cameras to sort glass down to three millimetres in size, keeping more glass in the circular economy. The old facility could process glass 10 millimetres in size or larger.
Visy will remanufacture the glass into new glass jars, bottles and containers at its factory in Spotswood—the only glass container furnace in Victoria.
