08 : 52 am |9th September 2010

Glass Recycling

The Glass Re-Cycle - Find out what happens to all the glass you recycle

A UK family uses, on average, 330 glass bottles and jars every year. Most of these can be recycled, which helps saves energy and natural resources as well as reducing pollution. But have you ever wondered what happens to all that glass?

• You give your glass for recycling, using either your local doorstep service or a nearby bottle bank.
• The glass is then collected, sorted into individual colours and taken to a recycling depot for storage.
• From the depot, the glass is then moved to a special treatment plant.
• The bottles and jars are then crushed and cleaned until all the non-glass materials, such as labels, are removed.
• The crushed glass is then mixed with raw materials and fed in to a furnace. At a temperature of 1600°C the glass melts, becoming once again pure and pristine.
• The glass is made either into bottles or jars, which are then sent to manufacturers who fill them with products.
• The filled bottles and jars are then taken to the retailer where they are sold to consumers.
• People like you then use up the products inside the bottles or jars, you recycle them and the process begins again.

The great thing about recycling glass is that the process can be repeated an infinite number of times and the quality of the glass never deteriorates.