Glass Recycling

Waste glass also known as cullet is easy to recycle when you know how.

In the UK we currently recycle around 40% of waste glass including bottles and jars. Over the last five years this is an increase of around 50% but still leaves the UK behind other countries like Switzerland or Finland who recycle more than 90% of their waste glass.

How is glass recycled?

Once The All Clear Company has collected your glass it will be separated from all other waste ready to be taken for reprocess. The glass waste is then put in to a machine that sorts the glass by colour and then it is crushed and all contaminants removed. At this stage the glass is mixed with the raw materials and melted in a furnace. The melted material is then moulded or blown and made in to new bottles or jars.

Restaurants, bars and pubs currently throw away around 600,000 tonnes of glass each year with around 50% ending up being sent direct to landfill. 

Glass is made from four main ingredients Sand, Soda ash, Limestone and additives for colour.
Although there is no shortage of these materials yet they all have to be quarried. Quarrying damages the landscape and effects the environment by using more energy.

Glass is 100% recyclable it has an endless reprocess life with no loss of quality.

At The All Clear Company we recycle 100% of the glass we collect.

So by recycling glass we can:

• Conserve non-renewable fossil fuels
• Reduce emissions of harmful gasses into the atmosphere
• Reduce consumption of energy
  
  

Did you know?

• Glass taken to landfills will never decompose!
• Less than 1 in 6 bottles sold in the UK is recycled.
• By recycling just one bottle can power a computer up to 30 minutes.
• Recycling two glass bottles saves enough energy to boil enough water for five cups of tea.