The Morley Glass team won the prize for Best Installation Support Programme or Service Initiative at GGP’s Installer Awards in March, for the recycling scheme it runs in partnership with Saint-Gobain Glass.
Judges at the awards described the recycling scheme as ‘something that the industry has been crying out for, for years’.
But how much do you know about this award-wining recycling scheme?
Did you know, for example, that the idea came while Morley Glass’ managing director was flying into Manchester from Italy?
“I thought: ‘Wouldn’t it be a good idea if we could design a machine that extracts the glass out of old windows?’” explained Ian Short.
“That was the lightbulb moment. Now, we encourage our customers to give us their old double glazing.”
By partnering with Saint-Gobain Glass, the Morley Glass team began to make use of post-consumer glass, and a programme that went beyond just repurposing old windows was born.
The installer glass collection and recycling scheme has been running for three years.
Once glass from old windows has been crushed into cullet, it is returned in bulk to Saint-Gobain, which pays for the material and turns it into new glass. In January 2023, the Morley Glass team sent 1,985 bags of cullet.
“Almost 360,000kg of CO₂ emissions have been saved since 2019,” reported Ian Short, Morley Glass’ managing director.
As well as preventing tonnes of glass from ending up in landfill, because recycled glass is fabricated at a lower temperature, almost 360,000kg of CO₂ emissions have been saved since 2019, he added.
“We set up a fund called Green Vision,” Ian told us. “Saint-Gobain pays us for the glass, and every single penny we get goes into a separate account. We take no operating costs, no bill costs for the machine and no powering costs.
“Instead, we encourage local initiatives – whether it’s sports clubs, charities or individuals – to apply for grants of £500 from that fund.
“When we won the prize for Best Installation Support Programme or Service Initiative,” added Ian, “we changed our order from prosecco to champagne! We were really, really chuffed. It’s like I always say: The glass is greener on the other side.”
This is a shortened version of an article from GGP Magazine. To read the full version, in the July 2023 edition of GGP, click here.
Enter the GGP Installer Awards for free at ggpinstallerawards.com.
