How Recycling Glass Can Help Our Environment

Recycling is enormously beneficial to the environment, yet so many glass containers end up in landfill. Each year, over 200,000 tonnes of glass is being sent to landfill by businesses in the UK. In many ways, glass is the perfect material because it can be recycled over and over again, without suffering any quality loss. By contrast, a single bottle which ends up in landfill will take over 1 million years to biodegrade. 

A Look Into Energy Consumption Levels for Recycled Glass 

Recycling glass into new products uses less energy than manufacturing new glass, hence there is no disadvantage to recycling because it can be done repeatedly without affecting purity or quality. 

How does recycling glass save energy? 

Coal and natural gas are the most common sources of energy used in quarrying, or mining, for raw materials needed to create glass. The raw materials are transported to the manufacturing plant using fuel, and once there, natural gas and electricity are used to melt the materials and shape them into glass; When recycled, however, the energy required to mine raw materials is reduced, and the main expense is the movement of glass from recycling facilities to the manufacturers.  

In the industry, recycled glass waste is referred to as "cullet," and making new products from cullet uses less energy than creating glass from scratch. This is due to the fact that cullet can melt more quickly and at lower temperatures than the raw materials. In the UK, the estimated energy saving associated with recycling glass is around 40%. Recycling a single bottle saves enough energy to power a lightbulb for 4 hours.  

Benefits of reducing energy consumption through recycling glass 

The benefits of reducing energy consumption are widely known. Reducing energy consumption equates to reduced energy bills, which is generally considered the biggest advantage. Reducing energy consumption is also beneficial to the environment, so anyone looking to limit their carbon footprint would be wise to recycle glass.

Environmental Impacts of Producing Raw Glass

Raw glass is produced using sand, ash, limestone, and soda. While these natural materials are not in short supply, they are not renewable sources and they do need to be quarried. This process requires significant energy usage and can have a devastating impact on local landscapes. 

The effect of quarrying on the landscape 

Quarrying has been proven to have a detrimental impact on the environment; It disturbs existing ecosystems, reduces biodiversity, depletes groundwater reserves, and results in water pollution and air pollution. Quarrying can also cause the degradation of forests, and even lead to landslides and subsidence. The destruction caused by quarrying leaves a long-lasting imprint on the landscape and harms the environment beyond repair. Unfortunately, this is an essential process to produce new glass, however this can be entirely avoided by recycling.  

Glass is a 100% recyclable material, and it does not lose any of its quality through the recycling process. This means that it can be used repeatedly and for a variety of uses, and as recycled glass has already been quarried, there will be no need for new quarrying operations. From this perspective, we can see how making the small effort to recycle can have a significant impact on the environment and the planet.  

The energy used on quarrying 

Quarrying is big business. While mining and quarrying are used interchangeably around the world, in the UK, mining refers to underground work sites and quarrying to the extraction of minerals. Glass production requires the extraction of sand from quarries, but other major global commodities, such as coal and iron ore, are also supplied by mining and quarrying.  

Globally, the quarrying and mining industry is considered to be one of the worst offenders for CO2 emissions. It accounts for 80% of the world's electricity usage, which is the equivalent of the “total energy consumption of Australia, Mexico, South Korea, Italy and Canada.”- The World Counts.  

Recycling would remove the need to quarry for the raw limestone and sand required in the creation of new glass, reducing the energy consumption associated with this process. For every tonne of glass recycled, 1.2 tonnes of raw materials are saved, and 580kg of CO2 emissions are eliminated.

What Can You Do to Help?

If you are committed to protecting the environment and your company processes a lot of glass, investing in glass crushing machinery may be worthwhile. Here at QCR, we specialise in commercial recycling machinery of all sorts and we will be more than happy to assist you in finding the right equipment. Contact us today to find out more.