Glass Recycling 101

Glass Recycling 101 

On average, every family in the UK uses around 330 glass bottles and jars each year. This means that hundreds of glass bottles, jars and containers of all kinds get thrown away and aren’t properly recycled every day. However, recycling glass is not only easily done but is also massively beneficial. We’ve put together a list of glass recycling facts that might remind you why it’s essential to properly recycle your glass.

Glass can take a million years to break down in a landfill
Although this is potentially very dangerous to have such a large amount of hazardous glass in one place, it also takes up space for other items that are not so easily recycled.

Glass containers for food and beverages are 100% recyclable
When it comes to recycling glass you can do no wrong, and it can be recycled continuously without loss in quality or purity. This material can be manufactured into new bottles and jars over and over again.

Over a tonne of natural resources are saved for every tonne of glass recycled
As well as this, one tonne of carbon dioxide is reduced for every six tonnes of recycled glass used in the manufacturing process. Recycling helps manufacturers save energy and extend the life of plant equipment, and recycled material reduces emissions and consumption of raw materials.

Glass is completely natural
Glass is created by melting minerals together at high temperatures. Silica, a form of sand, is the main ingredient and is combined with soda ash and limestone melted in a furnace at high temperatures. Other materials and minerals can be added to produce different colours.

Recycling glass saves more energy than you’d think
Recycling just one bottle will save enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for four hours, power a computer for 30 minutes, or even a television for 20 minutes. It’s easy to see why recycling glass is cheaper than throwing it away and making more from scratch.

The UK currently recycles around 50% of glass containers
This has doubled over the last five years. However, there is still a lot more work to do, especially when taking into account that countries like Switzerland and Finland recycle more than 90% of their glass.

We all know that recycling is beneficial for the planet, but we hope that through our list we have shone a bit of light on how useful recycling glass in particular can be. All those bottles, glasses, jars and containers can be broken down to create something brand new. The energy and price efficiency alone is enough to make any manufacturer happy to reuse and recycle glass rather than making it anew. Let’s give them that opportunity by putting our glass in the right bin, making sure it ends up in the right place.