Glass plant provides heat

Ardagh Group — the Luxembourg-based glass container manufacturer trying to finalize the acquisition of Verallia North America — has entered into a historic agreement between one of its glassworks plants and a nearby community.
The plant, located in Holmegaard, Denmark, produces nearly 700 million bottles and jars a year. Although the plant uses large amounts of recycled glass, it also has a glass melting operation that generates heat. Most of that has been discharged through the chimney.
But now, due to an arrangement with SE Big Blue, part of the heat will be used to heat homes in a neighboring district.
The surplus heat from glass production is piped from the factory to a tank then to a local district heating plant’s system. “The result is reduced price heating for over 1,000 homes,” the company said.
The new system also saves at least 3,300 tons of carbon dioxide, which is the equivalent of taking 400 cars off the road.
Ardagh sells the heat to the utility, which helps offset the cost of the investment.

Negotiations
at standstill
Neighbors of Bell Aquaculture, which has a processing plant in Redkey, recently rejected a settlement proposal drafted by the fish farm’s attorney.
The fish farm is planning a $30 million expansion that will increase production from about 3 million pounds of fish per year to 7.5 million pounds.
But at least 11 of its neighbors oppose the expansion, saying the farm produces a strong odor, causes drainage and flooding problems in the area, creates noisy truck traffic, and brings birds and rodents to the neighborhood, which all could be made worse by the expansion.
The two sides have been meeting privately in recent weeks to reach an agreement, according to The Star Press. Bell Aquaculture has agreed to install pollution control equipment in the feed mill, dim its street lights, plant trees to create a visual barrier, buy more state-of-the-art equipment as a solution to the odor being produced by a fish feces lagoon, meet with neighbors once a quarter and work with Delaware County government on drainage concerns.
But neighbors say that’s not enough because the agreement doesn’t guarantee any solutions to the odor and drainage problems.
The neighbors plan to be present to express their concerns when the Metropolitan Board of Zoning Appeals meets March 27 regarding the expansion.
The expansion requires a zoning variance because the Delaware County’s zoning ordinance doesn’t permit manufacturing in a farm zone, where Bell is located.

Old National
honored for ethics
Old National Bank, which has a branch in Portland, was recently recognized as a 2014 World’s Most Ethical Company by the Ethisphere Institute.
This is the third consecutive year the company has been honored for the award, which recognizes organizations that continue to raise the bar on ethical leadership and corporate behavior.

Whirlpool Corp.
to expand in Ohio
Whirlpool Corporation recently announced it plans to invest $40 million to expand its small appliances plant in Greenville, Ohio.
The company is seeing significant growth in demand for its small appliances around the world, a press release stated.
At its Greenville plant, which has been operating since 1942, Whirlpool produces KitchenAid stand mixers and attachments, hand mixers and blenders.
It currently has about 1,000 employees who produce about 16,000 units a day.
The expansion is expected to create at least 400 new jobs by 2018.

Ivy Tech to be recognized
Ivy Tech Community College East Central region was recognized Wednesday for 50 years of continuous business by the Muncie-Delaware Chamber of Commerce.
Established on March 15, 1963 as Indiana Vocational Technical College, Ivy Tech offered one academic program to about 3,000 students. Now the college offers more than 125 areas of study and enrolls nearly 200,000 students annually.

Ivy Tech, John Jay leadership course
Ivy Tech Corporate College in partnership with John Jay Center for Learning are presenting a leadership course Thursday, April 24.
The course aims to provide new or perspective leaders with the knowledge and skills they need to confront the challenges they face early in their leadership careers.
The course is from 8 a.m. to noon April 24 at John Jay Center for Learning.
The cost is about $159. For registration information, contact Carolyn Carducci at 260-729-5525 ext. 223 or by email at [email protected].[[In-content Ad]]