The deal, for an undisclosed sum has seen NexCycle of America sell Berrymans to the limited company which has been formed as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reuse Glass UK.
The Reuse Glass UK business was set up by an Australian glass recycler to build and run a state-of-the-art processing plant at the Rockware Glass site at Knottingley near Doncaster and was opened at the beginning of the year. Reuse Glass UK says that by working with Berrymans the new Reuse UK group will “set the standards in collection and treatment for the UK”.
The new limited company will continue to trade as Berryman from its existing premises in South Kirkby (West Yorkshire) Dagenham, Birmingham and Motherwell in Scotland.
Berryman was founded in 1922 and moved its headquarters in 1987 to South Kirkby near Pontefract. Reuse Glass UK will continue to operatethe cullet treatment plant at Knottingley, which is close to South Kirkby, and currently supplies its full capacity of 200,000 tonnes on a long term contract to the UK’s largest glass packaging manufacturer, Rockware Glass.
A spokesman for Reuse UK said: “The acquisition of Berrymans by Reuse Glass UK creates a highly efficient and integrated glass recycling group with both collection and processing capabilities, at a time when the UK government is significantly increasing waste packaging recovery targets.
“Berryman will be given the resources to increase waste glass collection services throughout the UK not only to supply the traditional glass container industry but also the alternative markets they have developed in recent years.”
Mike Keogh, Berryman general manager, explained: “We are already in discussion with local authorities and other potential collection points to greatly expand the quality and quantity of glass bottle bank sites.
“We will also be running a much wider information and educational programme to encourage the general public to recycle more glass bottles and jars.”
Reuse UK will use the additional tonnages of waste glass to expand it’s output of high quality cullet.
“We anticipate building a second state of the art cullet treatment plant in the near future to satisfy the requirement of our key customer,” said Reuse Glass UK Ltd chairman John Roberts.
He added: “Adding Berryman to our portfolio is good news for the environment and good news for jobs. It anchors us into a regular and growing supply of waste glass, sets new standards of collection and treatment of waste glass packaging, and enable us to communicate the need and benefits of glass recycling to a wider public.”
Details of where the new cullet treatment plant will be are still to be revealed although it is not expected to built in southern England or the London area.
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