May 17 2006
PPG Industries has installed a $1.6-million unit to recycle waste fiber glass at its fiber glass manufacturing plant in Hoogezand, the Netherlands. The investment will enable the plant to recycle more than 90 percent of its waste fiber glass, enabling PPG to conserve raw materials and avoid landfill costs.
The facility recycles waste fiber glass through two melting furnaces at the manufacturing plant, according to Vicki Holt, PPG’s senior vice president, glass and fiber glass.
“PPG’s investment in the recycling unit is a demonstration of our ongoing commitment to the environment,” Holt said. “The investment also reflects PPG’s commitment to the fiber glass business. The recycling unit will enable us to reduce costs and strengthen our competitiveness in the global fiber glass industry.
“The recycling system will lead to a significant reduction in our use of raw materials, which will preserve natural resources and reduce our transport costs. And it will help decrease the amount of waste disposed at landfills.”
The waste recycling unit is a prototype system for use at other PPG fiber glass plants around the world, Holt said. The Hoogezand plant is also a PPG fiber glass research and development center for thermoplastic fiber glass products and processes.
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