Recycling glass is easy and makes it possible to make new glass bottles and jars in as little as 30 days. By saving on raw material, using less energy, and cutting CO2 emissions, recycling results in vast environmental pay offs.
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTS
Glass can be recycled endlessly with no loss in quality or purity. In 2018, 31.3% of glass food and beverage packaging containers were recycled. In some states, like California, glass bottle recycling reaches over 80%.
UNMATCHED ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS
Recycling glass containers promotes efficiency with significant environmental benefits that includes:
- Saving on raw materials: over a ton of natural resources are conserved for every ton of glass recycled, including 1,300 pounds of sand, 410 pounds of soda ash, 380 pounds of limestone, and 160 pounds of feldspar.
- Repurposing for production of new containers and fiberglass products. The container and fiberglass industries collectively purchase and remelt 3.2 million tons of recycled glass annually.
- A decrease in energy use, with about 2-3% drop in cost for every 10% cullet used in the manufacturing process.
- Greenhouse gas reduction in which a ton of carbon dioxide is reduced for every 6 tons of recycled container glass. A relative 10% increase in cullet reduces particulates by 8%, nitrogen oxide by 4%, and sulfur oxides by 10%.
- Prolonging of furnace life by including cullet in the manufacturing mix, making it less corrosive and lowering the melting temperature from 2800 degrees .F. to 2600 degrees F.
- No processing by-products — Glass recycling is a closed-loop system, creating no additional waste or by-products.
SAFETY & WEIGHT
Today’s glass containers are approximately 40% lighter than they were 30 years ago..efforts to reduce the weight of glass containers continue throughout the industry.
Glass packaging can handle vacuum or high-pressure sealing, safeguarding against moisture and oxygen invasions. This protects food and beverages from spoilage and bacteria.
Glass containers are impermeable, air-tight, and transparent. You can see the freshness of food and beverages.
Nontoxic and FDA Approved
Made from nontoxic raw materials—silica, sand, soda ash, limestone and up to 70% recycled glass—glass is the only packaging material certified by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration as “generally regarded as safe.”
Glass is nonporous and impermeable, so there are no interactions between glass packaging and products to affect the flavor of food and beverages. No nasty after taste—ever.
Glass has an almost zero rate of chemical interaction, ensuring that the products inside a glass bottle keep their strength, aroma, and flavor.
Glass can be specified to absorb damaging ultraviolet light, ensuring product purity and taste. In fact, glass has an inherently longer shelf life than any packaging material.
Glass does not deteriorate, corrode, stain or fade, so products inside a glass container remain as fresh as when they were bottled.