A glass recycling facility that can handle 50,000 tonnes of bottles and jars a year has been opened in Naas, Co Kildare.
Glassco Recycling's €5 million planet - which will initially employ five people - uses optical colour sorting technology.
This means the plant can sort mixed waste glass by colour, eliminating contaminants such as ceramics and rubbish, and potentially saving 15,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.
"This new plant means that Ireland can maximise the environmental benefits of glass recycling and substantially reduce carbon emissions," Glassco Recycling managing director Zeki Mustafa said.
"Recycling a glass bottle back into a new glass bottle saves enough energy to power a 100w light bulb for an hour or over 300 kilos of CO2 emissions per tonne," Mr Mustafa added.