Leading waste-to-product company, Renewi plc, and Owens-Illinois (O-I) have signed a new Shareholder Agreement (SHA) for their Maltha Joint Venture, strengthening the long-lasting relationship between the two partners.

The SHA signals a new start for Maltha, one of Europe’s largest glass recycling companies. As Maltha was historically majority owned by Van Gansewinkel, a new SHA was required following the merger earlier this year between Van Gansewinkel and Shanks to create Renewi.

Renewi will continue to own 67% of the joint venture, with O-I, the world leader in glass packaging, retaining its 33% stake. Together, the value chain partners will deliver an important contribution to the circular economy by producing high-quality raw materials from waste glass.

Maltha focuses on recycling both flat and container glass into “cullet” and glass powder for reuse in the glass industry. The cullet and powders produced are sold to leading glass manufacturers, including O-I, and makers of other glass products who demand high purity material. O-I uses recycled glass cullet in its glass making process ensuring significant energy savings and reducing CO2 emissions compared to the use of virgin raw materials.

Bas Blom, Managing Director of Renewi’s Monostream Division said:
“We are very pleased to have signed the new agreement with O-I for our Maltha joint venture. Maltha is run by experts from complementary parts of the value chain for glass products. Together, we give new life to used materials by ensuring that our circular product can be recycled over and over again without loss of quality. The new agreement gives us a firm base from which to grow for the future, giving security to our operations and our employees.”

Michael Prechtl, O-I Country Group Executive North / Central Europe, said:
“Maltha makes the best use of the unique properties of glass, whose 100% recyclability ensures it remains the most sustainable packaging material. Much of our production contains over 80% recycled glass. Our new agreement with Renewi strengthens Maltha’s ability to provide a consistent, uncontaminated supply of high-quality cullet to much of O-I’s European operation.”

Maltha has had a long lasting relationship with O-I, which has jointly owned Maltha with the legacy Van Gansewinkel business since 1996. Maltha has sites in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Portugal and Hungary.