What happens to your empty lemonade bottle when it goes back to the factory in Tullamore, County Offaly?
Rather than being thrown away, empty glass DEW soft drinks bottles are collected into crates and returned to the factory owned by DE Williams Limited in Tullamore, County Offaly.
Bottles by the thousand come in here every day, they come in dirty, they go out clean.
As the dirty bottles proceed along the conveyor belt, a de-capping machine unscrews bottle tops. The bottles then enter the giant bottle washer.
And out the other end, all clean and ready to be filled up again.
A glass bottle can repeat this cycle four times in its lifespan. The caps removed by the de-capping machine are collected and melted down to be made into more caps.
A 'Youngline' report broadcast on 6 March 1980. The reporter is Ultan Guilfoyle.
