With many people turning from plastic as part of an effort to be greener, Glass has seen a resurgence in popularity. From glass milk bottles to glass storage jars, glass is being hailed as the eco warrior’s packaging of choice.
Yet, though most glass is recyclable, there are still environmental downsides to using this material, including the fact that many types of glass are not easily recycled. Here are our handy tips on what can and can’t be recycled.
Is glass recyclable in the UK?
Yes. Glass is one of our most widely recycled materials, with the UK recycling around 70% of container glass.
This has a significant environmental benefit, with every tonne of recycled glass saving around 246g of C02 emissions compared to using virgin materials to make new glass.
High-quality glass can either be recycled into other glass items such as glass bottles and jars, or contaminated or poor quality glass can be used as aggregate for building materials or can be made into glass insulation.
Yet not all glass is made from the same materials, meaning some is more difficult to recycle than others.
But is all glass recyclable?
Unfortunately, not all types of glass are recyclable.
We may think of the glass jar our jam comes in as the same material as the glass we drink our water from, yet these two types of glass are very different.
This is because a slightly different mix of chemicals is used to give glass different properties, making it more suitable for certain purposes.
For example, Pyrex is a type of glass used to create oven dishes, also known as borosilicate glass. This makes it able to better resist high temperatures. While heat resistance is desirable for something that is placed in an oven, this makes it more difficult to recycle, and most glass recycling will not accept this kind of product.
Flat glass, or plate glass, such as window glass, is another example of glass that cannot be recycled at the curbside. This is because this glass has been treated to prevent shattering, meaning once again it melts at a higher temperature.
However, while these types of glass cannot be added to household recycling, there are specialist recycling facilities that are able to take them.
Other glass items that cannot be easily recycled can include more decorative glass products, such as glass ornaments. This is particularly true if they are made from coloured glass, as these additional chemicals will contaminate recycled glass when mixed in.
How to recycle glass?
Let’s focus on glass packaging such as glass jars and glass bottles, as these are what you are most likely going to be dealing with glass packaging within household recycling.
- These are highly recyclable and can be placed in a curbside recycling bin. It is important to properly clean these first to avoid contamination.
- Glass recycling can also be done at a bottle bank. Here, you will need to separate out green glass from clear glass and amber glass when recycling glass bottles.
- In some countries, single-stream recycling is used, where glass can be recycled with other materials such as metals and papers and is sorted at the recycling centre instead.
How is glass recycled?
The glass recycling process is fairly simple.
- Once collected, the solid waste is crushed and sorted, removing contaminants such as plastic and metal. This crushed glass to known as cullet.
- Sorting glass by colour means that the correct shade of cullet can be used to create a standard colour when reused.
- The glass cullet is then melted down and can be turned into new products such as glass bottles.
- Scrap glass from manufacturing processes can easily be added into this recycling process, or directly back into the manufacturing line.
Recycling glass windows or other treated glass is very similar but needs to be dealt with separately due to the higher temperatures required to melt it.
So, is glass eco?
When it comes to how recyclable glass is, the good news is that it’s highly recyclable. Unlike plastic, which degrades each time it’s recycled, glass just keeps ongoing.
Recycled glass is therefore very high quality and can be used in the same applications as virgin glass.
The main concern environmentalists have about using glass is its weight, with plastic being a much lighter material, using less fuel during transportation.
Additionally, many industrial sectors fail to recycle much of their glass, with the building industry and restaurants and bars being found to still be throwing large amounts into landfills.
However, glass doesn’t have many of the worrying environmental implications of plastic, as it is inert and does not affect the food chain.
Glass recycling facts
Glass can be recycled an infinite amount of times as long as it doesn’t become contaminated with other materials such as plastics.
When people say that glass is 100% recyclable, it means that all components of the glass are recyclable and nothing is lost during the recycling process.
Mining raw materials for glass has a negative environmental impact. Recycling glass not only reduces the need for this mining but also requires less energy and water than converting the raw materials.
Although the glass that nail varnish bottles are made from is recyclable, the contents are toxic and difficult to clean out, meaning recycling facilities often do not accept them.
Broken glass recycling is difficult as many places will not accept it as it is considered hazardous waste. However, some councils will accept it in the kerbside collection.
Glass can be recycled over and over again, however, if it becomes contaminated with other materials it will not be of a high enough quality to make certain glass products. In single-stream recycling is can easily occur. The good news, even this contaminated glass can be used for some purposes, such as building aggregate.
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