HOW IS GLASS RECYCLED?

admin — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 08:56:00 GMT

The glass which is disposed in the rubbish bin will reach the landfills along with all other waste.
Glass is recycled in all the glass banks around the globe.
Many supermarkets have glass-recycling banks, enabling you to recycle glass on your weekly shop.
Most home recycle bins, provided by your local council, usually accept glass.
Glass collected at the curbside is usually color separated on the vehicle or is sold as mixed glass for color separation or for use in alternative markets.
Glass from pubs and clubs is usually collected color separated in wheeled bins, but often it is collected in mixed bins due to lack of space.
Glass is usually separated into three colors. Brown, green and clear.
Recycled glass contains contaminants which must be removed before it is used to make new containers. Metal, paper, plastic, organics, ceramic and pyro-ceramic must all be removed. This is done using manual inspection and high-tech equipment utilizing metal detectors, vacuums, crushers, screens, lasers, digital cameras and even x-rays to detect and remove contamination.
Once the recycled glass has been cleaned and prepared it is mixed with raw materials and the whole process of glass product manufacturing begins again.
Recycling glass mainly constitutes of 6 major steps:

Ø Dumping Glass

Ø Commercial collection

Ø Removing contaminants

Ø Container making

Ø Alternative uses.

FACTS

Currently we landfill around 1,400,000 tonnes of glass each year. This is a real lost opportunity!

100% of recycled glass can be used to make new glass bottles and jars, without any loss in quality.

Green bottles are made with up to 90% recycled glass content.

Can you believe that glass recycling in 2003 saved enough energy to launch 10 space shuttle missions?

Scrap Business : glass