History

Maltha was founded in Schiedam in 1921 by Johan Bernard Maltha. He transported bottles to and from the Dutch gin distilleries. He sold the shards to local glass factories.

In 1956, he commissioned a rinsing plant that allowed Maltha to buy cullet from third parties and process it into usable raw materials for the packaging industry. In 1971, the collection of used glass from private consumers started. The Zeist Environment Club and the Rotterdam Red Women were the initiators of this action. The actions in Zeist and Rotterdam proved to be a success and, with the support of the Ministry of Environmental Health, larger-scale initiatives started in North Brabant.

On 17 May 1978, the first bottle bank was placed. All this led to the opening of the world's most modern glass recycling plant in 1993: Maltha Dintelmond. The ceramic materials, for example from gin jars, are detected with a laser ruler and blown out of the shard mixture by compressed air. The capacity of the plant is 330,000 metric tons per year. A second branch was opened in Emmen.  

In 1999, Maltha's transport division was transferred to Van Gansewinkel and in 2000 Maltha ceased to exist as a family business. The shares became 67% Van Gansewinkel and 33% BSN Glasspack, which was acquired by the U.S. group Owens-Illinois in 2004. Van Gansewinkel changed its name to Renewi in 2017.

In 2001, the first flat glass recycling plant in the world was opened in Kaulille. The capacity is 180,000 metric tons per year. In 2003, the Portuguese company Vidrociclo was fully acquired and in 2006 the French company IPAQ was taken over. In 2008, the flat glass recycling company moved from Kaulille to Lommel and its capacity increased to 200,000 metric tons per year.