Austria Glas Recycling is going for green mobility

18. 07. 2018

RCG transports more than 110,000 tonnes of waste glass by rail every year. This means conserving resources combined with environmentally friendly transport. Watch our video to see how shards of glass roll on rails to the sorting plant and what our customer appreciates about the cooperation with RCG.

The Rail Cargo Group is the partner for the transport of glass recycling. For our customers Austria Glas Recycling (AGR) and Vetropack, we transport more than 110,000 tonnes of waste glass annually in Austria and Switzerland. The rail logistics solution in Austria saves the environment emissions of more than 640 tonnes of CO2 *(Calculated with the RCA emissions calculation tool based on http://www.ecotransit.org compared to transport by road. Transporting this amount by HGV would mean 6.4 times more CO2 emissions.

From numerous central collection points and interim depots, we transport the collected white and coloured glass to the recyclers in around 2,870 wagons every year. We transport the glass in conventional wagonload traffic and in the ‘Mobiler’, the innovative craneless system, in which the handling between wagon and HGV takes place straightforwardly by means of a hydraulic lifting device.

Glass recycling saves raw materials

The collection of glass packaging contributes to the conservation of resources. The use of waste glass not only cuts CO2 emissions but also reduces the use of energy and natural raw materials such as sand, soda and lime, which are required for the production of new glass packaging. Around 85 percent of the glass packaging sold is recycled every year – and has been for more than 40 years. And this can continue indefinitely because the glass cycle is infinite: glass can be melted down and reshaped as often as required with no loss of quality.

Kings & Queens: AGR Managing Director Harald Hauke in conversation

Austria Glas Recycling (AGR) has relied on the service of the Rail Cargo Group for many years. When shards of glass roll on rails to the sorting plant in Pöchlarn, Lower Austria, this is the best prerequisite for optimum logistics. After the glass bottles have been emptied from the bottle bank, they are transported directly to the freight car and finally to the glass factory. We were there with the camera when glass fragments were crushed into tiny particles and melted down to produce new glass containers. This is both the end of the line and the new beginning for packaging glass. It’s the perfect cycle, emphasises AGR Managing Director Harald Hauke. In the video, he talks about the many years of good cooperation with the Rail Cargo Group.