Uusioaines, a company specializing in glass recycling and foam glass production, collects every year more than 80 thousand tons of glass for industrial use. In 2020, for the first time, the company faced a situation in which the entire factory capacity was sold out. According to Development Manager Jari Pennanen, they had to admit that their production could not temporarily meet increased demand. The growth peak generated a need for enhancing production.

Help from Pinja’s systems

At Uusioaines, they have a strong belief that enhancing the current production is possible and all the production potential has not yet been fully unleashed. To respond to the growth challenge, Uusioaines acquired the Gema by Pinja production data collection and control system.

“With Gema, we get real-time feedback on our factory operations. Detections will no longer be based on individual observations and opinions but on measured data. At the same time, we will be able to bring our production processes under better control and gain information on equipment performance and possible errors faster than before.”

An important element supporting the procurement decision was Pinja’s Maint system that has served Uusioaines in maintenance needs already for some time. When planning the total system, the decision was also made to upgrade the existing Maint system to the newer Novi by Pinja maintenance system. According to Jari Pennanen, this was considered sensible since Novi would support the daily use better than before. Using a known supplier for both systems is another benefit that he considers valuable.

Towards international markets

According to Jari Pennanen, Uusioaines is currently going through a period of change as the company is shifting from glass recycling more and more towards a manufacturing business.

– We still collect the great majority of recycled glass in Finland. By processing, cleaning and sorting it, we make it suitable for industrial raw material use. However, an increasingly large part of our revenues comes from the production of lightweight aggregate material: the foamit foam glass.

The foam glass aggregate is a lightening and insulating material that can be used in a wide range of structural solutions for infrastructure construction and housebuilding. In addition to Finnish glass chips, Uusioaines purchases glass from the other European countries.

– We are a pioneer in green economy and can offer a 100% recycling rate for glass in Finland. Our second foam glass factory is in Sweden and we aim to expand our business also to the other Nordic countries and Europe, says Jari Pennanen.

Read also:

Gema by Pinja – Machine monitoring and MES-system
Novi by Pinja – maintenance system