ACCIONA Energía and Vidrala reuse biomass slag to produce glass bottles

In Spain, ACCIONA Energía and Vidrala, a specialist in the design and manufacture of glass containers, have carried out an innovative pilot project to reuse biomass slag in the construction of 18.3 million glass bottles.

In total, the companies have reused 230 tons of biomass slag –a common term to refer to ashes, slag and dust– generated during the combustion process to produce renewable electricity at the Briviesca biomass plant in Burgos.

“Biomass slags have a high content of silica, one of the most widely used materials for the manufacture of glass. Thus, the use of biomass slag has made it possible to reduce the amount of silica sand used, as well as to replace part of the sodium carbonate, a compound traditionally used to reduce the melting point of the glass mixture, facilitating its manufacturing process and reducing its environmental footprint,” said ACCIONA.

“To this end, numerous research tests have been carried out on the treatment of the slag, which have made it possible to maintain the strength and durability characteristics of conventional bottles. The slag treatment was carried out in Asturias, and the bottles were manufactured in the Basque Country, at Vidrala’s Aiala Vidrio factory in Llodio, Vizcaya,” company added.

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