Hello readers. Welcome to #FactFriday on CleanbuildVoices!
Did you know that glass is 100% recyclable? Now, you do.
Modern glass bottles and jars are infinitely recyclable without any loss in quality or purity, and they are made from readily available resources like sand, soda ash, limestone, and cullet (furnace-ready recycled glass) – though the exact composition of glass may vary to meet specific applications requirements.
However, glass containers for food and beverages, though 100% recyclable, can’t be recycled with other types of glass.
This is because other kinds of glass like crystal, windows, ovenware, etc. are manufactured through a different process and as such, can cause production problems and result in defective containers if they are introduced into the glass container manufacturing process.
Other facts about glass
- Glass has three symbols: GL 70 for clear glass, GL 71 for green glass, and GL 72 for brown glass.
- Color sorting is important because glass manufacturers are limited in the amount of mixed color-cullet they can use to manufacture new containers, and it allows the glass manufacturers to ensure that new bottles match the color standards required by glass container customers.
- In addition to sand, soda ash, limestone, and cullet (furnace-ready recycled glass) used in making glass, materials like iron oxide or cobalt is added to the mix to give a green or blue color to the glass.
- Recycled glass reduces emissions, saves energy, and limits the consumption of raw materials.
- Recycled glass is always used to make new glass, and the more that is used, the greater the decrease in energy used in the furnace. This makes using recycled glass profitable in the long run, lowering costs for glass container manufacturers.
- Some recycled glass containers are not able to be used in the manufacture of new glass bottles and jars either because of too much contamination or the recycled glass pieces are too minute to meet manufacturing specifications. These can be used for making tiles and other construction materials.
