Nova Scotia startup looks to piggyback on craft beer craze
by Canadian Manufacturing.com Staff
Bottle washing firm plans to sort, wash and palletize glass bottles, sell them back to province's microbreweries
Company says the majority of bottles used in Nova Scotia are originally sourced from China
DARTMOUTH, N.S.—An East Coast startup is hitching its wagon to the booming craft brewing industry’s star.
With the help of a $250,000 loan from a federal government development fund, Atlantic Bottle Wash Inc. is setting up shop in Dartmouth, N.S. to help fill a void in the Nova Scotia microbrew business.
The company plans to sort, wash, and palletize glass bottles collected across the province and sell them back to small beer makers in Atlantic Canada.
Noting that most bottles used in Nova Scotia are originally sourced from China, the company’s president, Andre Anglehart, said that seemed like a long way to ship glass that was only going to be used once.
“Atlantic Bottle Wash Inc. is addressing the need not only for Atlantic breweries, but we are also creating an opportunity for Atlantic Canadian wineries by delivering a more economical and environmental packaging solution,” Anglehart said in a statement.
The company is investing a quarter-million-dollars of private funds in the venture. It says the current price for washed bottles is significantly lower than new bottles, but that it’s cost-prohibitive for each individual craft brewer to install bottle washing equipment on-site.
Along with taking advantage of a unique market requirement, Atlantic Bottle Wash says it will reduce waste, prevent glass bottles from being shipped out of Nova Scotia for processing and save energy.
