Halt in operations at Videocon recycling facility impacts US CRT glass flow

LOS ANGELES (Scrap Monster): The idling of the panel and funnel furnaces by Videocon has impacted flow of CRT glasses from the US. According to the company, the furnaces at Bharuch, India are being shut down towards repairs and maintenance activities. It further has stopped accepting CRT glasses from its US counterpart, Cali Resources. Meantime, Cali Resources noted that the CRT glasses destined to India are now being processed in Mexico.

The glass-to-glass recycling facility of Videocon has been a major receiver of CRT glasses from the US. The company used to consume nearly 108,000 tons of CRT glasses per annum, which in turn were used towards manufacturing new CRT televisions.

As per Videocon officials, the company still continues to accept CRT glasses from the US, but in limited quantities. A letter issued by the company’s glass division noted that the company is currently performing heavy maintenance activities at both the furnaces and cullet equipment. It declined to provide a clear time table as to when the furnaces will restart operations. Meantime, Cali Resources confirmed that it has stopped shipping CRT glasses to Videocon for the time being and expects to resume shipments once maintenance activities at the furnace are performed in full.

The shutdown of the furnaces is likely to have major impact on companies and state recycling programs that rely on Videocon for recycling operations. According to data from California state, the volume of CRT shipments by California recycling companies to Videocon has fallen sharply during the past few months. The shipments had averaged at 4.9 million pounds per month during the initial six-month period of the current year. However, the CRT exports dropped to just 3.3 million pounds in July, followed by 2.4 million pounds in August this year.

Videocon is the only company in the world to make new CRTs by recycling old ones. The Bharuch facility had been a key outlet for US CRTs over the past several years.