Annually, total glass use in the UK is estimated at around 3.6 million tonnes.
Glass makes up around 7% of the average household dustbin and in 2001 over 2.5 million tonnes of this material was landfilled.
Recycling
glass into new products has four main environmental benefits:
•
Energy saving
•
Lower emissions
•
Reduced landfill
•
Reduction in quarrying
The manufacture of glass uses energy in the extraction and transportation of the raw materials, and during processing as materials have to be heated together to a very high temperature. Large amounts of fuel are used and the combustion of these fossil fuels produces carbon dioxide - a greenhouse gas. In 2002 the glass industry consumed a total of 8611,000,000 kWh of energy including electricity and carbon dioxide emissions totalled 1.8 million tonnes from the fossil fuels burnt in the factories. An efficient furnace will require 4 GJ of energy for each tonne of glass melted.
Glass can be recycled indefinitely as part of a simple but hugely beneficial process, as its structure does not deteriorate when reprocessed. In the case of bottles and jars, up to 80% of the total mixture can be made from reclaimed scrap glass, called "cullet". Cullet from a factory has a known composition and is recognised as domestic cullet. From bottle banks it is known as foreign and its actual properties will not be known.
If recycled glass is used to make new bottle and jars, the energy needed in the furnace is greatly reduced. After accounting for the transport and processing needed, 315kg of CO2 is saved per tonne of glass melted.
Recycling two bottles saves enough energy to boil water for five cups of tea.
Recycling reduces the demand for raw materials. There is no shortage of the materials used, but they do have to be quarried from our landscape, so from this point of view, there are environmental advantages to recovering and recycling glass. For every tonne of recycled glass used, 1.2 tonnes of raw materials are preserved.
Recycling reduces the amount of waste glass which needs to be landfilled. Although glass is inert and is not directly hazardous to the environment, it will remain there indefinitely.*
Taking part in recycling the waste we produce makes us think about the effect we are having on our environment and enables us to contribute towards a greater level of sustainability
Container glass is largely bottles and jars and represents around 80% of the recycled glass market. Total container glass flow is estimated at 2.23 million tonnes of which around 629,000 tonnes may be imported
On average, every family in the UK consumes around 330 glass bottles and jars a year. (British Glass)
Returning bottles to the retailer and receiving the deposit in return used to be common practice. However as manufacturing plants became larger and decreased in number, bottles had to be carried further for refilling. This removed much of the financial and environmental advantages associated with returnable bottles. In addition to this, consumer preference turned to the convenience of non-returnable bottles. Milk bottles are one of the few types of glass packaging still reused (an average of 12 times). Despite the extra weight required to withstand wear and tear and the costs of cleaning, returning bottles can still be the best option when they are recovered and refilled locally. There is also the option of reusing bottles and jars as storage containers for home made wine, beer or jam.
Many people set aside glass for recycling and either participate in kerbside collection schemes or take them to a bottle bank. The first bottle banks appeared in 1977, and there are now roughly 50,000 on some 20,000 sites around the country, usually located at civic amenity sites and supermarkets. To find your nearest bottle bank you can use the recycle bank locator at: www.recycle-more.com
Glass can also be recovered from businesses, such as pubs and restaurants, and from companies, schools or organisations which are able to have a bottle bank on site.
600,000
tonnes of glass bottles are thrown out from pubs, clubs, hotels, restaurants
and cafes every year (a quarter of the UK's waste glass containers). Up to
75% of this is currently being sent to landfill sites.
The main barrier to recycling glass is the shortage of clear cullet collected in the UK. The UK predominantly produces clear and amber glass but because the UK exports a lot of clear glass, in the form of spirit bottles, and because consumers are also reluctant to deposit jars in bottle banks, little clear cullet is produced. The UK imports twice as much green glass as is manufactured, mainly in the form of wine bottles. In the past this has lead to a surplus of green cullet. The industry has worked hard to increase the amount of green glass recycled and currently all the green bottles we make in the UK contain at least 85 per cent recycled green glass.
Glass cullet can also be used for aggregate in the construction industry, and the new road laying material glasphalt. Glasphalt comprises around 30% recycled glass and it has been estimated around 14 million crushed bottles were used in this way during construction in the M6 motorway project. These materials can use mixed coloured and contaminated glass, and may be a good market for green glass.
Container glass sector
Glass cullet can be used in the production of new glass bottles. The rise in recycling means that in 2003 the average jar or bottle made in the UK contained 38 per cent recycled glass, four per cent up on 2002. Recycling glass into new containers has four main environmental benefits - energy saving, lower emissions, reduced landfill and a reduction in quarrying.
Flat glass sector
This
is the second largest sector of glass manufacture. As opposed to container
glass, flat glass tends to be used in long term applications. This longevity
lessens the environmental impact of waste glass but waste flat glass is arising
as windows and car windscreens are replaced and cars are scrapped.
Taking into account imports and exports this stream accounts for around 886
thousand tonnes annually.
Fibre glass sector
Fibre glass can be manufactured using a number of methods to produce either continuous or short fibres. Continuous fibres are commonly used in the production of glass reinforced plastics and cements. Short fibres may be used in the production of blanket fibre material such as that used for insulation. In the UK 220,000 tonnes per annum of fibre glass is made per annum and approximately 11,000 tonnes of glass waste. Because of the difficulties in reusing and recycling this type of glass there is currently little recycling.
Domestic glass sector & Special glass sector
Domestic glass includes domestic houseware such as glasses and ornaments. The special glass sector includes cathode ray tubes as used in televisions, medical and other specialist equipment.
Nearly all cathode ray tubes disposed of from domestic households end up in landfill. The re-use of domestic TV's and computer monitors is negligible. WRAP has a project to assist the diversion of CRT glass from landfill and enable the UK to meet the WEEE Directive's recycling/recovery targets for equipment containing CRTs in the most cost-effective manner.
• If a bottle is returnable it is usually preferable to return it, rather than to recycle it.
• Rinse the bottles or jars - ideally in washing-up water you have in the bowl anyway.
• Wherever possible, remove metal or plastic tops, corks and rings from bottles or jars. Any tops which remain will be removed by magnets, vibratory screens or other methods, but they can cause damage to furnaces if any get through.
• Recycle all glass containers, not just drinks bottles. Containers which hold food, pharmaceutical and household items which are made of glass are all recyclable.
• Never deposit light bulbs or cookware such as 'Pyrex' or 'Visionware'. These have different properties to the glass used to make bottles and can contaminate a load, resulting in a sub-standard finished product. Flat glass, such as window glass, whole or broken, should not be put in bottle banks either - see below.
• Make sure that you put the bottles in the correct bank - clear, green or brown. Most importantly, ensure clear glass is not contaminated with colours as this will considerably reduce the value as a higher price is paid for uncontaminated clear glass. Bottles made from blue glass can be put in the green glass bank. Bottles with a coloured coating can be recycled as any finishes added later will burn off in the furnace. To find the original glass colour check the top of the bottle where the cap was and put the bottle in the appropriate bank.
• Try to plan your trip to bottle banks along with other essential activities such as going shopping or to school. This way the environmental impact of the journey is kept to a minimum.
• Do not leave any boxes or bags at the bank that you have used to bring your glass in, there is normally a bin provided for these.
• Try to use bottle banks during the day, to avoid disturbing the local community at night.
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