REHAB GLASSCO'S MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE
It's a fact that just one recycled glass bottle saves enough energy to power a computer for up to 25minutes. Therefore, Rehab Glassco has undoubtedly earned its place at the top of the 'Saving the Planet' class by recycling 2.8 million glass bottles and jars every year.

Rehab Glassco is the result of a merger in December 2009 of Rehab Recycle's glass and can recycling division with Glassco Recycling, the state-of-the-art glass processing facility in Naas, Co. Kildare. Both companies have been leaders in their respective fields for many years.

Rehab Recycle, part of the Rehab Enterprises group of companies, was founded in 1984 and was the first to introduce bottle banks in Ireland, ultimately becoming the country's biggest collector and processor of glass packaging, with a processing facility in Ballymount, Dublin, and collection depots in Cork and Galway. Glassco Recycling was established in 2001 and was the first facility of its kind in Ireland to use optical colour-sorting technology enabling the efficient sorting of mixed glass by colour.
Zeki Mustafa, managing director of Rehab Glassco, says this coming-together of Rehab Recycle's glass and can recycling activities with Glassco's glass processing capability serves to securely position both enterprises at a time of unprecedented economic challenges. "Of course, it also presents great opportunities. We have exciting plans for the future, in further minimising waste and in ensuring that the maximum financial and environmental value is extracted from the material, while boosting employment in our business for those who are marginalised," he added.

EMPLOYING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
Apart from the crucial advantage of environmental sustainability, Rehab Glassco is unique in the fact that a significant number of the staff members employed are people with disabilities. "Our customers care about the environment, the service we offer and the value for money we provide; that's why they come to us first and foremost.
"However, they also care about an inclusive society, where everyone is enabled to play their part and reach their full potential. At Rehab Glassco, we provide truly integrated social employment opportunities and have a range of progressive employment policies in place to support our colleagues, including adapted working environments and employee assistance programmes."
Mustafa is keen to highlight Rehab Glassco's enduring relationship with local authorities countrywide. "We currently have collection contracts and service agreements in place with 25 local authorities, with whom we have had long-standing and supportive relationships, and have in excess of 1,300 bring and civic amenity centres across Ireland. He maintains it's important for customers and the public to know, at a time when statistics show that people with disabilities are more than two-and-a-half times more likely to be unemployed than people without disabilities, that when they recycle with Rehab Glassco they are helping to address this challenge.

MAINTAINING BRING CENTRE SITES
Mustafa is very clear on the importance attached by Rehab Glassco to the public image of its bring centre sites. "We know from experience that a clean bring centre is much more likely to stay that way. So we place an equal level of importance on the inspection of bring centres by our collection staff, as the actual emptying of the banks, with drivers taking photographic evidence as necessary and reporting issues back to base for immediate attention. We carry out site power-washing programmes as a matter of routine, inspecting banks for damage and re-labelling where necessary."

However, how do you feasibly monitor bring centre sites, with recycling rates bound to fluctuate at different times of the year? "Thanks to the introduction of custom-developed software - the first of its kind in the world specifically designed for the servicing of bottle banks - we offer customers complete traceability from the moment the collection is made at their premises and we can provide information on collections in real-time through fully-automated reporting."

This means that Rehab Glassco can anticipate recycling levels and incorporate hikes, for example around Christmas, festivals, local GAA matches, into its collection schedules. "This allows us to automatically programme additional collections, and ensures that our resources are allocated to exactly where and when they are needed most."