Mountains of glass in Israeli desert

Feb 3, 2016

Mountains of glass in Israeli desert

Jin Kim 0 Comment World glass factory, Israel, Israeli, phoenicia glass works, recycling

Phoenicia Glass Works Ltd., Israel’s only glass container factory, runs 24/7 and produces a million bottles and containers every day.

The factory, located in the Negev desert, produces some 300,000 defective bottles a day. The defects are ground up and gathered into piles to be melted into new bottles. The rolling hills of glass shards span a few soccer fields and reach up to 50 feet high.

The factory runs nonstop – the ovens must always run to prevent the molten glass from hardening and clogging the equipment.

: In this Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016 photo, a worker breaks defective glass bottles to be recycled at the Phoenicia Glass Works Ltd. factory in the southern Israeli town of Yeruham. Factory workers grind these rejects into shards and pile them outside. Recycled glass bottles from across the country are sent here and ground up, too. The glass pieces are shoveled into the ovens to be fired into new glass bottles. Sand, the basic ingredient of glass, is hauled in from a nearby desert quarry. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

: In this Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016 photo, a worker breaks defective glass bottles to be recycled at the Phoenicia Glass Works Ltd. factory in the southern Israeli town of Yeruham. Phoenicia Glass Works Ltd. produces a million bottles and containers a day for beverage giants Coca Cola, Pepsi, and Heineken, as well as Israeli wineries and olive oil companies. Every day, about 300,000 bottles come out of the ovens with defects. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

: In this Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016 photo, a worker breaks defective glass bottles to be recycled at the Phoenicia Glass Works Ltd. factory in the southern Israeli town of Yeruham. Phoenicia Glass Works Ltd. produces a million bottles and containers a day for beverage giants Coca Cola, Pepsi, and Heineken, as well as Israeli wineries and olive oil companies. Every day, about 300,000 bottles come out of the ovens with defects. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

: In this Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016 photo, a worker collects plastic bottles among piles of broken glass, later to be recycled at the Phoenicia Glass Works Ltd. factory in the southern Israeli town of Yeruham. Phoenicia Glass Works Ltd., Israelís only glass container factory, produces one million containers a day. Some 300,000 bottles a day come out with defects, and the factory grinds them into shards and piles them in a desert lot to be melted into new bottles. The factory is in the middle of the desert, and works round the clock, every day of the year. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

: In this Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016 photo, glass bottles move on the line of production at the Phoenicia Glass Works Ltd. factory in the southern Israeli town of Yeruham. Phoenicia Glass Works Ltd. produces a million bottles and containers a day for beverage giants Coca Cola, Pepsi, and Heineken, as well as Israeli wineries and olive oil companies. Every day, about 300,000 bottles come out of the ovens with defects. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

: In this Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016 photo, glass bottles move on the production line at the Phoenicia Glass Works Ltd. factory in the southern Israeli town of Yeruham. About 250 employees keep the factory running 24 hours a day, every day of the year. They even work on Yom Kippur, Judaismís holiest day, when everything else in the country grinds to a halt. They canít turn off the ovens, because the molten glass lava will harden and clog them. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

: In this Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016 photo, an employee carries a box of defective glass bottles to be recycled at the Phoenicia Glass Works Ltd. factory in the southern Israeli town of Yeruham. Factory workers grind these rejects into shards and pile them outside. Recycled glass bottles from across the country are sent here and ground up, too. The glass pieces are shoveled into the ovens to be fired into new glass bottles. Sand, the basic ingredient of glass, is hauled in from a nearby desert quarry. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

: In this Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016 photo, broken glass from bottles are piled up later to be recycled at the Phoenicia Glass Works Ltd. in the southern Israeli town of Yeruham. Tiny shards, millions of them, are piled into rolling hills of green and brown. They are 50 feet high and span the length of a few soccer fields. This is the junkyard at Israelís only glass container factory, where broken glass awaits a new life. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

: In this Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016 photo, broken glass bottles are piled up to be recycled at the Phoenicia Glass Works Ltd. factory in the southern Israeli town of Yeruham. Deep in the heart of Israelís desert, shimmering mountains of glass dominate the landscape. Tiny shards, millions of them, are piled into rolling hills of green and brown. They are 50 feet high and span the length of a few soccer fields. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

: In this Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016 photo, an employee checks the quality of glass bottles on the production line at Phoenicia Glass Works Ltd. factory in the southern Israeli town of Yeruham. Phoenicia Glass Works, Israelís only glass container factory, produces one million containers a day. Some 300,000 bottles a day come out with defects, and the factory grinds them into shards and piles them in a desert lot to be melted into new bottles. The factory is in the middle of the desert, and works round the clock, every day of the year. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

: In this Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016 photo, a worker pushes a wheelbarrow with broken glass bottles at the Phoenicia Glass Works Ltd. factory in the southern Israeli town of Yeruham. Factory workers grind these rejects into shards and pile them outside. Recycled glass bottles from across the country are sent here and ground up, too. The glass pieces are shoveled into the ovens to be fired into new glass bottles. Sand, the basic ingredient of glass, is hauled in from a nearby desert quarry. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

: In this Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016 photo, broken glass bottles are piled up later to be recycled at the Phoenicia Glass Works Ltd. factory in the southern Israeli town of Yeruham. Factory workers grind these rejects into shards and pile them outside. Recycled glass bottles from across the country are sent here and ground up, too. The glass pieces are shoveled into the ovens to be fired into new glass bottles. Sand, the basic ingredient of glass, is hauled in from a nearby desert quarry. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

: In this Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016 photo, glass bottles move on the production line at the Phoenicia Glass Works Ltd. factory in the southern Israeli town of Yeruham. Factory workers grind these rejects into shards and pile them outside. Recycled glass bottles from across the country are sent here and ground up, too. The glass pieces are shoveled into the ovens to be fired into new glass bottles. Sand, the basic ingredient of glass, is hauled in from a nearby desert quarry. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

: In this Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016 photo, a worker sweeps sand used to manufacture glass bottles at the Phoenicia Glass Works Ltd. factory in the southern Israeli town of Yeruham. Phoenicia Glass Works Ltd. produces a million bottles and containers a day for beverage giants Coca Cola, Pepsi, and Heineken, as well as Israeli wineries and olive oil companies. Every day, about 300,000 bottles come out of the ovens with defects. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

: In this Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016 photo, workers unload defective glass bottles to be recycled at the Phoenicia Glass Works Ltd. factory in the southern Israeli town of Yeruham. Factory workers grind these rejects into shards and pile them outside. Recycled glass bottles from across the country are sent here and ground up, too. The glass pieces are shoveled into the ovens to be fired into new glass bottles. Sand, the basic ingredient of glass, is hauled in from a nearby desert quarry. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

: In this Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016 photo, birds fly above broken glass later to be recycled at the Phoenicia Glass Works Ltd. factory in the southern Israeli town of Yeruham. Phoenicia Glass Works Ltd. produces a million bottles and containers a day for beverage giants Coca Cola, Pepsi, and Heineken, as well as Israeli wineries and olive oil companies. Every day, about 300,000 bottles come out of the ovens with defects. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

: In this Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016 photo, a worker smokes a cigarette at the Phoenicia Glass Works Ltd. factory in the southern Israeli town of Yeruham. Phoenicia Glass Works Ltd., Israelís only glass container factory, produces one million containers a day. Some 300,000 bottles a day come out with defects, and the factory grinds them into shards and piles them in a desert lot to be melted into new bottles. The factory is in the middle of the desert, and works round the clock, every day of the year. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

: In this Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016 photo, a broken sign lies on the ground at the Phoenicia Glass Works Ltd. factory in the southern Israeli town of Yeruham. Phoenicia Glass Works Ltd. produces a million bottles and containers a day for beverage giants Coca Cola, Pepsi, and Heineken, as well as Israeli wineries and olive oil companies. Every day, about 300,000 bottles come out of the ovens with defects. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

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