Cameron Family Glass Packaging has completed a deal allowing it to build a glass plant exclusively for the wine industry. The US$109m project will be located in the Port of Kalama, Washington, the largest eco-friendly wine bottle manufacturing facility in the world, & also boasts to being the first glass plant built in the US in 30y. The factory will up & running by the end of 2008, creating at least 90 jobs on site, according to the company. The eco-friendly plant will have a hydro-powered electric furnace & will operate by utilising the north-west waterways of the Columbia River. Donald Cameron, who spent the last 3y researching the wine industry, said: "Our furnace, which is the largest electric glass furnace in the world, allows us to minimise the impact on the environment because there are no harmful emissions. By comparison, similar facilities operate furnaces that are powered by fossil fuel, which produce harmful greenhouse emissions and are subject to the ever-rising price of natural gas." The company has also said that the wine bottles will be made at least in part from recycled glass and plans to recycle all water used during the glass-making process.
