KRYSTELINE TECHNOLOGIES HAVE PLAYED A LARGE PART IN INCREASING GLASS CONTAINER RECYCLING IN HONG KONG THROUGH ITS PARTNERSHIP WITH BAGUIO WASTE MANAGEMENT AND RECYCLING LTD
Hong Kong’s Environmental Protection Department (EPD) introduced a glass bottle recycling scheme in Hong Kong which publicly launched 1st November 2018.
This scheme and following Glass Container Recycling Charter are intended to increase public awareness of and participation in glass bottle recycling. Through a series of promotional activities including new label and logo for the glass bottle recycling bins, incentive schemes and guided tours of recycling plants.
Prior to these policies taking place the majority of waste glass beverage bottles in Hong Kong were sent to landfill. However, with limited space in the existing landfills which will likely be used up before 2020, the urgency to reduce and recycle all types of waste is apparent.
With the popularity of certain drinks such as wine, gin and whiskey on the rise in Hong Kong, an increase in waste bottles in both the domestic market as well as the hospitality market has meant that there is even more of a need to recycle.
Hong Kong - Photo by Florian Wehde on Unsplash
Through an open tender the EPD appointed glass management contractors (GMCs) to undertake collection and treatment services for waste glass containers, improve the recovery rate of glass containers and ensure they are used in a sustainable way. These 2 GMCs are Hong Kong Glass Reborn Ltd for the Kowloon District and Baguio Waste Management & Recycling Limited for the Hong Kong Island and New Territories regions. The 5 years contract require the GMCs to take over the previous voluntary glass bottle recycling programmes, providing free glass container collection and treatment services across the territory.
The contract for Baguio Waste Management & Recycling Ltd commenced in November 2017 and Krysteline Technologies are pleased to have provided a comprehensive container glass processing plant which incorporates its patented Implosion technology enabling them to process their glass ready for reuse.
Baguio chose the Krysteline glass processing plant for refining their glass ready for reuse because of the Imploder’s ability to separate the glass from non-glass, the Imploder also allows for the flexibility to produce cullet and sands suitable for an assortment of purposes. E.g. remelt, powder, gree sands, refined aggregates and even foam glass. Therefore utilising 100% of the waste glass collected.
Krysteline glass processing plants are very easy to run and maintain with minimal down time, which was one of the many reasons Baguio chose to work with Krysteline. Additionally Krysteline’s relatively short delivery capability was able to have the entire glass processing ready to ship within 10 weeks of order.
“The total amount of waste glass containers collected in 2018 increased by about 45% compared with 2017” - Mr Wong Kam-Sing, Hong Kong Secretary for the Environment
Recycled glass sand produced from the Baguio glass processing plant are being used initially as a river sand substitute in creating low CO2 paving bricks. The uneconomically high cost of shipping remelt quality cullet to China to be remade into glass bottles negated this opportunity. The close proximity of an eco-paver manufacturer to the new Krysteline glass processing plant willing to incorporate glass sand within the paving bricks offers a significant overall reduction in CO2 compared to traditional materials.
Since the scheme launched recycling of glass containers in Hong Kong has increased. Secretary for the Environment Mr Wong Kam-Sing stated that “Overall, following the commencement of GMC services the total amount of waste glass containers collected in 2018 increased by about 45% compared with 2017”
Continuing to follow on from this success in the future, Baguio hope to take advantage of the Krysteline flexibility and also produce glass that can be used in other high value added products.
Terence Wong, Managing Director of Baguio said “we have been absolutely delighted with the Krysteline glass processing plant. We have operated the plant for a year now and experienced minimal operational down time. Krysteline’s knowledge and understanding of the marketplace what a huge factor in us selecting them as a partner. We look forward to working with Krysteline more as we develop the market and opportunities for recycled glass in our region”
The Krysteline glass processing plant for Baguio Waste Management & Recycling Ltd based in Hong Kong is now operational at the plants maximum capacity of 20 hours a day, 7 days a week and processes approx. 53,000 tonnes of waste glass per year.
Additionally, Krysteline Technologies’ glass plant has been successfully processing glass in nearby Macau for 6 years. Suez has recently been granted a 2 years Operations & Maintenance contract for this plant, to further the Macau government’s call to promote waste reduction at source and advance waste recycling and recovery in the area.
For more information about our Implosion technology and how we can assist in your glass processing needs please contact us