Friday 29th September 2017
Why recycle glass? The answer is clear…. Glass is one of the simplest materials to recycle, there is no limit to the number of times a glass bottle can be sorted, crushed, melted and made back into a new bottle. There are also a number of environmental benefits to recycling glass. Here at Paper Round we aim to follow the waste hierarchy when processing waste, in particular we focus on the first three steps, reduce, reuse, recycle.
WRAP Waste Hierarchy
Reduce
The first stage of the waste hierarchy is to reduce your usage. When shopping, try to purchase items with the least amount of packaging. Another way to reduce your glass usage is to make sure you use up those glass jars of tomato sauce for example before it goes out of date – meaning you don’t need to purchase another.
Reuse
Before glass is collected by our Paper Round operatives re-use should be considered. Here are our top reuse ideas for glass containers – helping to extend their life cycle and transform them into something new!
Candle Holders – Image courtesy of LushHome.com
Storing Food – Image courtesy of LushHome.com
Chandeliers!
Decorating for display around the office or home
Using as plant pots or vases
Adding a pump and using as a soap or oil dispenser
Cocktail Jars
Storage for Stationery
Recycle
This is where we step in. At Paper Round, we can collect and recycle all different types of coloured glass jars and containers.These are then taken to Recresco, a facility close to ours in Purfleet – minimising fuel consumption and transport costs. Bottles are crushed into glass cullet, contamination is removed and then the cullet is sorted into various colours. This material is then supplied to bottle and jar manufacturers to make new bottles! (watch this animation to see how they are recycled)
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There are several benefits of recycling glass. New glass is made from four main ingredients – sand, soda ash, limestone and additives. All of which must be quarried, damaging the landscape and using energy. By recycling glass, we are conserving non-renewable fossil fuels and reducing harmful gasses into the atmosphere. Recycling one bottle saves enough energy to power a PC for 25 minutes. You can also think about this in terms of making lasagne –the two glass jars of ingredients to make your lasagne can be recycled, saving enough energy to power the oven you use to cook the lasagne
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When it comes to glass recycling, there are many benefits – and your glass jars can be transformed into something great!
