Ambipar to Invest Heavily in Glass Recycling

Objective is to increase the volume of recycled glass shards in the country to 400,000 tons by 2032. Photo: Dwight Smith / shutterstock.com.

Specialized in waste management and circular economy, Ambipar announced that it will invest R$ 50 million to develop glass recycling in Brazil.

The initiative is a result of the approval by the Ministry of the Environment of the project presented by the company, aiming to meet the goals of Decree 11,300/2022, focused on reverse logistics for the material.

Currently, the company is already a partner with 100 cooperatives specialized in glass recycling, and in this new investment round, it will include the acquisition of trucks and improvement of the infrastructure.

The goal is to increase the volume of glass shards sold to glass packaging manufacturers from 130,000 to 400,000 tons by 2032.

GLASS RECYCLING IN BRAZIL

Manufactured mainly from sand and limestone, glass, besides being infinitely recyclable, is one of the simplest and most efficient materials to recycle.

Investing in glass recycling and manufacturing products from recycled materials is cheaper than using virgin raw materials.

Unlike plastic, glass bottles and jars can be recycled without the final product losing quality.

According to the latest survey by the Brazilian Association of Glass Industries (Abividro), more than 8.6 billion units of glass are produced annually in Brazil.

Approximately 1.3 million tons of material are put on the market in various formats, generating around R$ 120 million.

Of this total, only 300,000 tons end up being recycled.

Among the problems hindering glass circular economy in the country are the lack of selective collection in many cities and incorrect disposal by the population.

To give an idea of the environmental impact, scientists estimate the glass decomposition time in the environment to be one million years.

• Click here to read the full article.