It is common knowledge that glass waste should be recycled where possible, however, most individuals and businesses may not be aware of the process of glass recycling. So, our recycling specialists here at Great Western Recycling have put together this blog, answering the most frequently asked questions surrounding glass recycling.
Understanding What Types of Glass Can Be Recycled
Is glass recyclable?
Yes! Glass can be recycled and is renowned for maintaining its quality even after being recycled.
The most common glass type found in households is ‘soda-lime-silica’ which is used for food containers and more. Households in the UK recycle around 50% of container glass, collected from residences by kerbside waste collections.
Businesses in a range of industries also produce recyclable glass, such as hospitality or commercial businesses.
How many times can glass be recycled?
Infinitely!
Glass is 100% recyclable and can be endlessly reprocessed without losing quality. This results in many benefits, namely the conservation of fossil fuels and the reduction of harmful gases released into the atmosphere.
This also means glass is a cost-effective material with good environmental credentials for businesses to use.
Can coloured glass be recycled?
Yes, it can.
Although clear glass is the most common glass, coloured glass can also be recycled. Recycling coloured glass involves separating the various coloured glass segments into groups.
What glass can’t be recycled?
There are instances in which waste glass can’t be recycled. For example, some glass waste is of poor quality and therefore harder to recycle for use as glass containers again. It is also expected that some glass waste has different components or melting points to regular household glass containers, which can result in abnormalities or fracture points in the resulting recycled glass.
Broken glass can’t be recycled. It presents risks to those who handle it and facilities may not be equipped to sort small fragments.
The names of the glass that aren’t widely recyclable are:
- Borosilicate glass – used for cooking equipment with heat resistance properties
- Lead glass – decorative glassware
- Glass fibre – fibre optic cable or insulation
What happens to glass waste that isn’t recycled?
Glass waste that isn’t recycled often ends up in landfills with great negative effects on the environment. The hospitality industry in particular is responsible for throwing away hundreds of thousands of tonnes of glass into landfill each year.
Glass waste that is too low quality to recycle may end up in aggregate where it has no environmental benefit. Here it is used as an additive in building materials such as eco-cements, water filtration, and blast cleaning. glazing, refurbishment and demolition glass waste commonly end up as aggregate.
The Glass Recycling Process
Glass Collection
There are multiple ways in which glass is collected for recycling.
Residential waste is collected by local authority kerbside collections or may be recycled by the user at bottle banks. It’s essential that households separate their own waste and don’t create single-stream recycling in order to make the system most efficient and reduce the likelihood of contaminants.
See more: What is Dry Mixed Recycling?
Businesses sort and store their own recycling waste in line with UK Government regulations which stipulate the responsibility of businesses to responsibly manage their own recycling and to engage registered waste providers, such as Great Western Recycling, to collect and dispose of the waste.
How is glass recycled?
Here is a step-by-step guide showing how glass may be recycled. Steps may be ordered differently according to the individual glass treatment plant and the type/colour of glass being recycled.
1. Glass is collected and taken to a glass treatment plant (after being separated from other dry mixed recycling if applicable).
2. Glass is sorted by colour; usually mechanically not manually.
3. Glass is washed to remove impurities.
4. Glass is crushed into small pieces called cullet.
5. Cullet is melted in a furnace at over 1500 degrees. (At this stage raw materials may be added to give the recycled glass certain qualities, i.e., iron for brown or green colour, or boron for heat resistance improvement).
6. Liquid glass (globs) are pressed, blown or moulded into new products.
7. Recycled glass products are sent to shops for resale and consumers use the product.
8. The cycle begins again.
Is glass recycling sustainable?
Yes! Recycling glass uses far less energy than creating glass from raw materials.
It is preferable to recycle glass instead of expanding energy and damaging landscapes by quarrying the required sand, soda ash, and limestone to create glass. Once quarried, raw materials have to be transported to manufacturing sites, expanding further energy and then melted in an extremely hot furnace.
Although recycling glass still expands energy, the effects are far less than when creating virgin glass from raw materials. This is especially significant when paired with the fact glass can be recycled infinitely.
Benefits of Glass Recycling
The UK government wants to recycle 65% of municipal garbage by 2035, but we still have a long way to go since the country only recycles roughly 45% of its waste at this current point in time.
We must never forget how important recycling is to maintaining the sustainability of our planet. These are seven justifications.
1. Environmental Conservation
2. Safeguarding ecosystems and animal life
3. Lowering the need for raw materials
4. Energy Savings
5. Reducing carbon emissions that cause climate change
6. Cheaper than disposal at landfills
7. Deals with unemployment
Recycled Glass Products
What is recycled glass turned into?
Most often, recycled glass is remoulded into everyday household glass containers such as jars and bottles. However, recycled glass is also made into glass wool used for insulation; this has the added benefit of improving energy efficiency.
Get Started with Great Western Recycling
At Great Western Recycling we help businesses with their waste management and recycling throughout the UK. We offer a range of waste management solutions, including general waste collection, dry mixed recycling, hazardous waste collection, food waste and more.
If you are looking to improve your business’ glass recycling, get in touch! We have 240-litre glass bins available and flexible collection offerings so you can easily sort your waste and leave the rest to us.
Check out our glass recycling services!
Request a free waste management quote and personalised waste review.
Get a free quote and personalised waste review.