Ardagh Group receives the Resource Recovery Award for recycling softening pellets at its Dongen plant in the Netherlands.
The pellets are a valuable residual waste product from the water treatment industry, and are used to replace limestone as a raw material in the production of high quality clear container glass.
Presented at the First International Resource Recovery Conference in Belgium by the International Water Association (IWA), the award recognizes world class achievements for innovative, best practice applications with the most positive environmental impact that benefits all stakeholders in the supply chain.
Ardagh consumes 10% of the Dutch annual production of softening pellets.
The company found an efficient, environmentally and cost effective method for meeting the challenge of drying the calcite pellets before using them in the glass making furnace.
This was achieved by the development of a purpose built truck, which dries the pellets in transit between the water treatment plant and Ardagh’s production site in a carbon dioxide neutral drying process, using heat from the engine.
“This particular solution, replacing 7000 tons of limestone with the calcite grains, required thorough development and testing from our engineering team to maximize the benefits, and our sister plants are now looking carefully at how they can adopt the technology,” says Sven-Roger Kahl, manager, Glass Technology, Ardagh Glass, Europe.
