How glass recycling works: From sorting to new products

Glass recycling is one of the simplest ways to prevent bottles, jars and windows from construction waste clogging up landfills.

Glass is an incredibly sustainable material that can be 100% recycled again and again while retaining its quality, unlike plastics which can only go through the traditional process a few times.

So if you’ve ever wondered what happens to the beer bottles you’ve been dutifully putting in the recycling, SunSkips is here to break it down for you…

Types of recyclable glass

A lot of the glass we use everyday is 100% recyclable, which makes it a valuable part of the circular economy (as long as proper glass recycling guidelines are followed).

Bottles are one of the most common glass products that can be recycled. According to Recycle Now, the UK recycles around 71% of container glass, with a goal of reaching 90% by 2030 (countries like Belgium, Sweden and Slovenia already recycle 95% of their glass).

SunSkips accepts glass in skips, which might be construction waste like windows, but always advises clients to be extra careful and consider using a tarpaulin or closed skip to protect people that interact with it.

When glass windows are mixed in with construction waste, it can be much harder to salvage, but it can still be recycled into aggregate (this is technically called open-loop recycling or down-cycling), which is not as environmentally friendly as melting it down and making it into glass again (closed-loop recycling), but infinitely better than sending it to landfill.

Which glass items can’t be recycled?

The good news is that the vast majority of glass types can be recycled.

However, some glass types are not suitable for recycling, because they contain other elements that can contaminate the rest of the recycling.

How glass is recycled into new products

There is always high demand for glass cullet (glass that’s smashed up into small pieces ready for recycling).

Fortunately, the process for recycling glass is fairly simple and reaps great quality products that are just as good as if they’d been made from virgin glass:

1. Sorting

Glass should be sent to recycling centres pre-sorted by colour, but there will inevitably be some bottles in the wrong bank, so further sorting will take place at the plant.

2. Cleaning

As with other recyclable materials, glass needs to be cleaned of any contaminants before it can begin the process. Glass is usually blown with air to remove paper and plastic, as well as passed under a magnet to pull out metal.

3. Crushing

To make the glass into recyclable cullet, it needs to be crushed before being further sorted and cleaned.

4. Mixing

The clean cullet is mixed with raw materials like soda ash, sand, limestone, and whatever colours or additives are necessary for the final product.

5. Heating

The glass cullet mixture is melted in a furnace ready to be shaped into new products.

6. Shaping

The melted glass is moulded or blown into new bottles, jars, windows, fibre glass, beads, glass wool insulation, and filters for swimming pools.

SunSkips’ top tips for better glass recycling

Local authorities across East Anglia, including Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, collect glass from households, as well as providing local bottle banks and recycling centres.

But while most people are happy to recycle their glass, not everyone is clear on the best practices to make sure their efforts don’t result in glass being rejected at the recycling plant:

According to a report from Suffolk Recycles, the county’s recycling facility rejects 17% of waste due to it not being properly separated and decontaminated.

MORE ON THIS TOPIC: How paper and cardboard recycling works

Why SunSkips cares about recycling

As a sustainable skip hire firm, SunSkips feels a responsibility to promote glass recycling.

Big businesses are still throwing 200,000 tonnes of glass into landfill every year and there’s really no need for it.

Glass is a truly sustainable material, so it’s hard to find a compelling argument against recycling it.

Making glass from scratch is detrimental to the planet due to the extra pollution it generates and sourcing of raw materials it requires.

Cullet melts at a lower temperature than raw materials, so it not only conserves resources that would need to be quarried, but the process also consumes less energy.

Recycled glass production is less damaging to the environment, reducing air pollution by 20% and water pollution by 50%. And for every tonne of recycled glass collected, 1.2 tonnes of raw materials are saved, not to mention 580kg of CO2.

SunSkips is proud to offer local glass recycling solutions that can keep glass in the circular economy for as long as possible.

Got large amounts of glass to recycle? Get in touch today to discuss an efficient glass recycling plan that’ll save you time and money.