Summary
This page gives information on how glass bottles and jars are recycled, what is made from them and what type of glass is recyclable in the borough.
What is glass?
Glass is made from sand and other minerals such as soda ash and limestone. The minerals are melted together at very high temperatures. The result is a liquid form of glass which is then moulded into various shapes for use in our homes.
How much glass do we consume?
On average, every family in the UK consumes around 330 glass bottles and jars a year. Last year, over 700 tonnes of glass bottles and jars were collected and sent for recycling in Oadby and Wigston. This means that each household recycled approximately 136 glass bottles and jars.
How is glass recycled?
Some areas have a kerbside glass collection service. Due to the operation’s limited capacity, we have not expanded the service into other areas. Therefore, many residents are encouraged to take their empty glass bottles and jars to their local bottle banks|.
The bottle banks are emptied using a specialist vehicle and transported to the material recovery facility in Whetstone. From there the glass is transported to a reprocessing plant in Nottingham. The glass is colour sorted, crushed and then melted to produce new products.
What is made from recycled glass?
• New bottles and jars
• Processed sand – finely ground glass for golf bunkers
• Glassphalt for road surfacing – around 14 million bottles were crushed and used to resurface the M6 motorway.
What type of glass can you recycle in the borough?
You can recycle almost any type of glass bottle or jar from your household, such as juice, alcohol and wine bottles and sauce, pickle and jam jars.
What about glass utensils using the kerbside box or bottle banks?
We do not have a reprocessing facility where these items can be recycled, as result we are unable to accept items such as glasses, cups, bowls and ovenware etcetera for recycling.
The above information was extracted from: www.recyclenow.com|
Additional information is available at:
Recresco www.recresco.com|
British Glass www.britglass.org.uk|
Facts about recycling www.recyclingglass.co.uk|
Return to: Waste and Recycling | Recycler's Corner|