DENVER – Johns Manville has installed a €10 million thermal recycling unit for waste glass fibres at its Engineered Products plant in Trnava, Slovakia.

The investment will enable Johns Manville to drastically reduce the amount of glass fibre waste that is usually sent to landfill.

“The primary goal of this investment is to achieve a tangible positive environmental impact by drastically reducing the landfilling of glass fiber waste,” explained Elena Hrivikova, manager for Environment, Health and Safety – Europe/Asia. “This project is part of our response to the European Commission’s zero waste program and our overall target for sustainable management of the planet’s natural resources.”

The new Trnava unit has a projected recycling capacity of more than 3 tons per hour and consists of a warehousing area, feeding and transportation equipment, shredder, burning chamber and milling.

After processing, the recycled glass powder is free of organic particles and re-fed as raw material into the glass production process on-site, thereby achieving a closed production loop. The project will keep more than ten thousand tons of waste out of the landfill each year; equivalent to one large truck every day.

“We have invested nearly €10 million into state-of-the-art technology and made sure the recycling capacity will allow further glass fiber production capacity growth in Trnava. The investment is another milestone of Johns Manville’s strong commitment to environmentally responsible manufacturing operations,” added Martin Nywlt, director of Global Operations for JM’s Engineered Products business.