Recitotal, a glass recycling and processing company based in São Paulo, Brazil isn’t your average recycling collection operation. Led by Managing Director Renata De Moraes Pereira Tambasco, Recitotal employees travel their route by motorized tricycles, collecting glass bottles and jars from bars, restaurants, and condominiums.

The project started in 2019. The motorized tricycles are green, representing the international standard for glass recycling. Each has a “Glass Collection” identification and has a bucket that holds up to 400kg of glass. They travel the same 5km route each day, passing by the same bars, restaurants, and condominiums. The routes and the green bikes have made Recitotal so recognizable, people are accustomed to seeing them and stop the vehicles to donate glass. The glass they collect returns to O-I’s plant to be created into new glass packaging.

Recycled glass is a main ingredient to manufacture new glass bottles and jars. The more recycled glass that is used to create more glass, the more sustainable the process.

“Each ton of glass recycled in the manufacturing process saves 2.9% in energy consumption,” explains Morgana Correa, Legal and Government Relations Manager at O-I and leader of the O-I Sustainability Committee in South America. It also means that more glass remains in the circular economy rather than going to a landfill where it will not be reused.

People in São Paulo and O-I are enthusiastic about Recitotal’s work. Tambusco is tracking notable increases in both glass separation and donation. She also notes an increase in appreciation of the importance of recycling glass, which is essential for the shift needed towards greater recyclability of glass.

“Increasing recycling rates in Brazil is a grandiose goal and contribution,” she says. “In the case of glass, the challenge is even greater, but we believe that collective awareness of its importance is the first concrete step towards successfully achieving consistent progress."

O-I Glass, Inc.

O-I Glass, Inc.

At O-I Glass, Inc. (NYSE: OI), we love glass and we’re proud to be one of the leading producers of glass bottles and jars around the globe. Glass is not only beautiful, it’s also pure and completely recyclable, making it the most sustainable rigid packaging material. Headquartered in Perrysburg, Ohio (USA), O-I is the preferred partner for many of the world’s leading food and beverage brands. We innovate in line with customers’ needs to create iconic packaging that builds brands around the world. Led by our diverse team of more than 25,000 people across 72 plants in 20 countries, O-I achieved revenues of $6.1 billion in 2020. 

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