Recycling glass helps the environment and the economy. By recycling glass we:
- conserve mineral resources
- reduce energy consumption from mining and transportation
- reduce waste to landfill.
Glass bottles and jars are 100 percent recyclable. Thanks to the success of glass recycling, mixed crushed glass called cullet is now the main material for making glass. For each tonne of cullet used to make glass we save 1.1 tonnes of raw materials.
Glass is not biodegradable – it may never decompose at landfill. This makes it even more important to reuse and recycle glass bottles and jars where we can.
What glass can I recycle?
In your kerbside recycling bin, you can only recycle glass bottles and jars that have been used as packaging (brown, green or clear). Rinse out bottles and jars and replace lid onto container.
Avoid placing these items in your recycling bin:
- drinking glasses
- lightbulbs
- mirrors
- ovenproof dishes – pyrex, microwave dishes
- spectacles/sunglasses
- window glass
- windscreen glass.
Contaminants compromise the quality and safety of recycled glass products. As little as 25 grams of impurities per tonne of glass can cause a load to be rejected and sent to landfill. This is the size of a teacup handle.
Where does my recycled glass go?
We take recycled glass to our Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) for infra-red optical sorting. This separates glass into different colours – clear, green and brown (or amber).
Glass is then screened for impurities at a beneficiation plant, crushed into various sizes and sold for recycling. The crushed glass (cullet) can then be melted in a furnace with raw materials and used to make new bottles and jars.
Where does glass come from?
Glass found in bottles and jars is made from:
- silica (found in sand)
- soda ash (from salt)
- limestone.
These non-renewable resources are melted and mixed together to form glass:
- Silica and soda ash are melted in a furnace at temperatures of 1700 degrees celsius – this is called the batch.
- Limestone is added to give glass its hard, smooth texture. The batch turns into a hot, thick liquid known as molten glass.
- Molten glass globules are poured into moulds and air is blown into the middle to form hollow shaped bottles.
- The bottles are cooled and ready to be filled by manufacturers and sent out to supermarkets.