AUSTRALIA | Visy has produced the first glass bottles at its new glass recycling and manufacturing facility in Yatala, marking a major milestone for Queensland’s glass packaging supply chain.
CEO Mark De Wit said seeing the first glass come out of the new furnace was a proud moment for everyone involved.
“You spend years looking at drawings, construction schedules and progress reports. Seeing the first glass come out of the furnace is the moment it all becomes real," said De Wit.
“It's a proud day for everyone who helped bring this project to life. For nearly four years, this site has been a construction project. Today, it's making glass.”
When fully operational, the facility will manufacture up to one billion glass bottles and jars each year with an average of 70 percent recycled content.
The first bottles will follow the start of commissioning of the site’s first of two oxygen-fuelled furnaces. By using oxygen-fuelled furnaces and recycled glass pre-heating technology, the site will produce new glass packaging using less energy than traditional glass manufacturing facilities.
The new facility has created over 600 construction jobs and will employ around people in 200 ongoing operational jobs once fully commissioned.
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