Innovative Mobile Glass Recycling: O-I Glass Unveils MOGRA for Sustainable Packaging
O-I Glass, Inc. ("O-I Glass" or "O-I") has successfully developed and tested an innovative, cost-effective mobile glass processing machine, known as "MOGRA" (Mobile Glass Recycling Asset). This portable system is designed for easy transportation and deployment, allowing for the cleaning and crushing of recycled glass to be used as raw material. MOGRA offers a practical solution for recycling glass into furnace-ready material in areas lacking infrastructure.
According to Randy Burns, Chief Sustainability and Corporate Affairs Officer for O-I, "MOGRA builds on our long tradition of enhancing the sustainability of glass packaging by enabling O-I to implement comprehensive, closed-loop recycling programs with our clients and communities. This system generates furnace-ready cullet, enhancing the recycled content in our glass packaging." MOGRA's versatile and transformative capabilities allow O-I to effectively expand its recycling and sustainability initiatives using a single asset.
The MOGRA system is designed to fit on a truck trailer, allowing it to be transported to various locations, including O-I facilities and other sites across the U.S. Once deployed, it can be operational within a day, efficiently processing glass packaging from brewers, distillers, bottlers, and communities into localized raw material for glass production. The system's mobility enhances the feasibility of glass recycling by minimizing logistical challenges, transportation costs, and associated emissions.
MOGRA is engineered to crush glass to specific sizes while removing metallic contaminants such as caps, closures, and capsules, thereby improving the quality of recycled glass. The system can process up to 6,000 metric tons of glass packaging annually.
Burns further stated, "As the importance of recycled content grows in helping our customers meet their sustainability targets, O-I's innovative solutions will increase the cullet content in our glass packaging, advancing our overall sustainability efforts. Glass is 100 percent and infinitely recyclable, and by addressing gaps in the recycling process, we are maximizing its potential in the circular economy."
O-I aims to increase the recycled content in its packaging to a global average of 50 percent. Glass production uses four primary ingredients: limestone, soda ash, silica sand, and cullet (recycled glass). By increasing the amount of cullet in production, O-I conserves natural resources and reduces the energy required for manufacturing. Cullet melts at lower temperatures, and incorporating 10 percent more recycled glass reduces overall emissions by five percent. Each ton of cullet used saves 1.6 tons of natural resources.
O-I's vision is to become the most sustainable and preferred supplier of brand-building packaging by revolutionizing glass manufacturing and recycling through groundbreaking innovations.
“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 Burns. For O-I our journey to a sustainable future with glass packaging is paved by innovation.”
Click here to know more about sustainable innovation for glass packaging by O-I.
According to Randy Burns, Chief Sustainability and Corporate Affairs Officer for O-I, "MOGRA builds on our long tradition of enhancing the sustainability of glass packaging by enabling O-I to implement comprehensive, closed-loop recycling programs with our clients and communities. This system generates furnace-ready cullet, enhancing the recycled content in our glass packaging." MOGRA's versatile and transformative capabilities allow O-I to effectively expand its recycling and sustainability initiatives using a single asset.
The MOGRA system is designed to fit on a truck trailer, allowing it to be transported to various locations, including O-I facilities and other sites across the U.S. Once deployed, it can be operational within a day, efficiently processing glass packaging from brewers, distillers, bottlers, and communities into localized raw material for glass production. The system's mobility enhances the feasibility of glass recycling by minimizing logistical challenges, transportation costs, and associated emissions.
MOGRA is engineered to crush glass to specific sizes while removing metallic contaminants such as caps, closures, and capsules, thereby improving the quality of recycled glass. The system can process up to 6,000 metric tons of glass packaging annually.
Burns further stated, "As the importance of recycled content grows in helping our customers meet their sustainability targets, O-I's innovative solutions will increase the cullet content in our glass packaging, advancing our overall sustainability efforts. Glass is 100 percent and infinitely recyclable, and by addressing gaps in the recycling process, we are maximizing its potential in the circular economy."
O-I aims to increase the recycled content in its packaging to a global average of 50 percent. Glass production uses four primary ingredients: limestone, soda ash, silica sand, and cullet (recycled glass). By increasing the amount of cullet in production, O-I conserves natural resources and reduces the energy required for manufacturing. Cullet melts at lower temperatures, and incorporating 10 percent more recycled glass reduces overall emissions by five percent. Each ton of cullet used saves 1.6 tons of natural resources.
O-I's vision is to become the most sustainable and preferred supplier of brand-building packaging by revolutionizing glass manufacturing and recycling through groundbreaking innovations.
“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 Burns. For O-I our journey to a sustainable future with glass packaging is paved by innovation.”
Click here to know more about sustainable innovation for glass packaging by O-I.
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