Groupe Bellemare plans to invest to purchase new equipment following confirmation of supply guarantees

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Image: O-I and Groupe Bellemare intend to produce bottles from glass collected through curbside recycling. Photo: courtesy of Pexels from Pixabay.

US-based glass bottle manufacturer Owens-Illinois (O-I) has signed an agreement with Canada-based Groupe Bellemare to produce bottles from glass collected through curbside recycling.

The new outlet for glass recycling is based in Québec

The new outlet for glass recycling is part of the efforts initiated under the Innovative Glass Works, planned by private non-profit organisation Éco Entreprises Québec. It is based in Québec, Canada.

In a joint statement, Groupe Bellemare co-president Serge Bellemare and Owens-Illinois sustainability vice-president Jim Nordmeyer said: “We are extremely pleased with the agreement, which constitutes an important milestone in the development of our respective organisations and a major glass recycling breakthrough in Québec.”

For the new glass recycling facility, a working group put together by Éco Entreprises will be responsible for leading talks on technical requirements on the quality of the glass, supply conditions and installation of remelting, optimal conditioning and colour-sorting equipment.

Additionally, Groupe Bellemare plans to make the necessary investment to purchase new equipment following confirmation of supply guarantees.

The work, however, is subject to a final condition, which is a change in Quebec regulation to ban any usage of glass in landfill sites.

Bellemare added: “Should the Ministre de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques announce that it is choosing to end this practice and fully support the glass recycling, we will work to secure our feedstock needed for the immediate investment and our plant will be operational within a year, as per our discussions with Owens-Illinois.”

Owens-Illinois official Jim Nordmeyer said: “We are looking forward to including Groupe Bellemare among our current suppliers of glass collected through the deposit system.

“This new supply of glass from curbside recycling will enable us to significantly increase the share of glass from Québec and meet the new needs of our clients, which are seeking a higher ratio of recycled glass in their bottles and containers. And that’s above and beyond the positive impact on employment at our Montréal plant.”

In July 2019, O-I has completed previously announced the acquisition of Nueva FÃ brica Nacional de Vidrio (Nueva Fanal) in Mexico for around $188m (£148.4m).

Nueva Fanal operates a glass packaging facility near Mexico City, which is expected to help O-I to expand its operations in the region.