Recycling Glass.
Recycling Glass is one of the many ways we can help reduce pollution and waste.
Everyday we throw away tones of rubbish and glass is a significant part of it. Instead of letting landfills pile up with glass objects that are a threat to safety and the environment, we can use it again.
Glass can be melted down and made into many different forms from drinking glasses to glass fiber. When the glass is taken to a manufacturing or recycling plant, it is broken up into smaller pieces called cullet.
The broken pieces are crushed, sorted, cleaned, and prepared to be mixed with other raw materials like soda ash and sand. The raw materials and glass pieces are melted in a furnace and then shaped into moulds to make new bottles of different colours and sizes. New recycled bottles and jars are made in this way.
In countries like USA, there are kerbside recycling schemes, which have specially demarcated boxes to collect glass that can be recycled. Some supermarkets, car parks and other public areas have glass bottle banks, where you can take your recyclable jars and bottles.
The cost savings of recycling is in the use of energy. Compared to making glass from raw materials for the first time, cullet melts at a lower temperature. So we can save on energy needed to melt the glass.
Glass produced from recycled glass reduces related air pollution by 20% and related water pollution by 50%.
Recycling glass reduces the space in landfills that would otherwise be taken up by used bottles and jars.
Using glass for recycling means there are less glass objects lying around in he landfill or bin.
So, what are you waiting for to start recycling? ☺️✨🌱
