January 2024
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Contract Talk<br />
for virgin raw materials, this volume of cullet has<br />
saved nearly 2,000 tonnes of sand from extraction.<br />
How many times can glass be reprocessed?<br />
Glass is infinitely recyclable. So the scheme<br />
we have developed fits with ‘circular economy’<br />
thinking – when an IGU is ready for replacement,<br />
it can be recycled into new glass that will be better<br />
performing as technology continuously improves.<br />
What do installers need to do to get onboard?<br />
Any Morley Glass customer is welcome to take<br />
advantage of the recycling service, but it only<br />
makes sense from a sustainability perspective<br />
to collect when we are delivering to them. If we<br />
need to make a special journey to collect glass<br />
for recycling, we have to evaluate the carbon<br />
footprint of that journey versus the potential<br />
benefits of recycling.<br />
Non-customers based in the Leeds and Bradford<br />
areas can also request a collection as they are<br />
likely to be on a return route for our vans. That<br />
doesn’t mean we are not able to help installers<br />
based elsewhere – we will happily discuss their<br />
requirements and establish if a collection is<br />
viable depending on their location and volumes.<br />
Are there similar initiatives in other areas of<br />
the UK that installers can utilise?<br />
I would love to see similar schemes in all major<br />
UK towns and cities, and I believe that Saint-<br />
Gobain Glass share that vision. In fact, they are<br />
in the process of partnering with other companies<br />
using similar glass crushing machinery so I am<br />
sure we will see new schemes being launched<br />
over the next 12 months.<br />
Tell us about the GreenVision fund and how it<br />
links to the initiative.<br />
The cullet we produce has a value because it is<br />
replacing the need for virgin raw materials. The<br />
revenue generated could be a new income stream<br />
for Morley Glass, but we never intended to recycle<br />
glass to make money for ourselves!<br />
That’s why we decided at the outset to ringfence<br />
that income and place it in a fund called<br />
GreenVision which provides one-off grants to<br />
charities, groups and individuals who are working<br />
on micro-initiatives to deliver environmental and<br />
social improvements.<br />
These good causes range from ‘village in bloom’<br />
groups and primary school horticultural projects, to<br />
support for budding athletes and dance scholarships<br />
for children in disadvantaged communities.<br />
Why is it so important to Morley Glass to help<br />
good causes as a by-product of its activities?<br />
Wouldn’t it be easier to just focus on business<br />
and profit?<br />
I believe that every business should do<br />
something, no matter how small, to give back<br />
to the community and that’s why we not only<br />
provide funding through GreenVision, but by<br />
giving up our time to provide hands-on support<br />
wherever possible. It is important to do whatever<br />
we can to improve the communities in which<br />
many of the Morley Glass employees, suppliers<br />
and customers live, and what better way than<br />
helping those dedicated organisations and<br />
individuals who are doing exactly that?<br />
You gained recognition for the post-consumer<br />
recycling scheme with a recent G23 award for<br />
‘Sustainability Initiative of the Year’ – what<br />
does it mean to Morley to win this award?<br />
This was undoubtedly the highlight of 2023 for<br />
me and for many of my colleagues too! It was<br />
such a proud moment to achieve such high profile<br />
recognition from our industry peers, but equally<br />
it helped put the spotlight on post-consumer<br />
glass recycling like never before. One of the main<br />
ways to encourage change in recycling is to keep<br />
the issue on everyone’s radar, so winning a G23<br />
Award was really powerful in that respect.<br />
Is the pressure to operate more sustainably<br />
being driven more by the consumer or the<br />
industry itself?<br />
Both. As end-users are becoming more conscious<br />
of resource-use and waste disposal, businesses<br />
are looking at doing more to recycle in response.<br />
The high cost of waste disposal nowadays is<br />
also encouraging more businesses to choose<br />
alternatives to general landfill waste – it is not<br />
only good for the environment, but it makes good<br />
commercial sense too.<br />
What’s next for Morley Glass in terms of<br />
improving sustainability in <strong>2024</strong>?<br />
Priority number one is to increase the volumes of<br />
post-consumer glass going through our crushing<br />
machinery so we can save more raw materials<br />
and energy in glass manufacturing, and donate<br />
more money to good causes.<br />
But in every type of business, there are always<br />
ways to further improve sustainability. Waste<br />
reduction will continue to be our focus as we<br />
believe small changes can make a big difference<br />
in terms of saving the world’s resources, which is<br />
why we are currently looking at other areas where<br />
we can upcycle and recycle post-use materials.<br />
Contact Morley Glass:<br />
0113 277 8722<br />
www.morleyglass.co.uk<br />
PRACTICAL CONTENT FOR THE GLAZING INSTALLER & HOME IMPROVEMENT SPECIALIST<br />
JANUARY <strong>2024</strong> TI 21
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