Glass Recycling Resource Pack Glass is an endless resource that is 100% and infinitely recyclable Brought to you by Friends of Glass and
The Aim 2 The Glass Recycling Resources Pack has been developed to help Local Authorities and businesses to increase consumer glass recycling. It has been produced by Friends of Glass and Recycle Now to support consumer communications campaigns that are designed to increase the amount of glass packaging recycled either at the kerbside or at glass banks. The information contained aims to: Increase consumer awareness of the need to recycle more glass packaging Increase consumer understanding of what types of glass can be recycled and where Increase the number of people who recycle all of the glass packaging they can, based on the local collection services and glass banks available.
Why focus on glass packaging? 3 Under the Packaging Regulations the UK government has set annual recycling targets for packaging materials. The targets for glass are set up to 2020. The majority of glass packaging is consumed in the home rather than in businesses so the majority of the glass required for recycling needs to be collected from UK households. In addition, the UK is required to achieve a 50% household recycling rate by 2020, which is something increased glass packaging recycling will contribute to. Current targets remain in place for the time being and future targets are expected to increase over the coming years as landfill capacity continues to decrease, resulting in recycling remaining on the political agenda. Glass recycling will remain a key material in reducing landfill. It is a mono material which means it can be recycled easily and is regarded as a permanent material. This means it does not change or lose quality during use, regardless of repeated recycling into new products.
About Friends of Glass About Recycle Now 4 Friends of Glass is a consumer campaign that promotes the benefits of glass packaging, including its 100% recyclability. Created in 2008 by FEVE, an international not-for-profit association representing the glass packaging industry, the movement has over 100,000 Friends and a 84,000-strong following on social media. Through its website, online channels and events, Friends of Glass provides guidance and information to support the recycling of glass packaging both at the kerbside and away from home. Friends of Glass UK is managed by the British Glass Manufacturers Confederation on behalf of container glass manufacturing members Ardagh, O-I, Beatson Clark, Encirc, Allied and Stolzle. The Friends of Glass campaign unites all those who regard glass as an ideal packaging material because of its benefits for health, taste and the environment. Our vision is to: Ensure the benefits of glass are understood and that all glass packaging is recycled. Recycle Now is an established national brand. It is associated with driving positive changes in recycling behaviour and is underpinned by robust research. Recycle Now is a trademark of the circular economy and resource efficiency charity, WRAP. Recycle Now s Strategy for 2015 17 aims to: Contribute to recycling 50% of the UK s household waste by 2020; Contribute to meeting the UK packaging recycling targets; Encourage consumers to recycle more of the right things, every time from around the home; and Increase recognition of the Recycle Now brand
5 Glass packaging can be recycled into wide variety of products but the best environmental outcome is to have it recycled back into glass packaging or glass fibre insulation, this is known as glass remelt. Recycled glass used to make glass containers again is known as cullet. This outcome is popular with consumers too. Recycled glass can also be used in other applications such as: Aggregates Filtration Shot blasting However these offer limited environmental benefits. CO 2 Emission Savings for Recycled Glass Applications Glass Containers UK Glass Containers Exported Glass Fibre 275 290 314 Brick Manufacture 66 Shot Blast 19 Aggregates -2 kg CO 2-50 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 CO 2 Emission Savings kg/tonne of recycled glass
The Glass Journey 6 It takes around 30 days for a bottle or jar to return as new to the shelf. Take a look at the fascinating journey here:
Why Should Glass Packaging be Recycled? 7 Glass recycled back into glass packaging reduces CO 2 emissions and reduces costs. For a glass manufacturer, the use of cullet (the name given to the recycled broken or waste glass used in glass-making) is very beneficial. Apart from reducing the amount of virgin raw material required, around 2.5-3% in energy savings can be achieved for every 10% of cullet that replaces primary raw materials, as less energy is needed to melt cullet. Recycling reduces disposal costs. In 2014/5, based on an average disposal cost of 100 per tonne, it is estimated that the cost of disposing of glass packaging that could have been recycled was 50 million across the UK. Recycling 1 tonne of glass packaging via a remelt process and back into glass packaging for example, saves 265 kg of CO 2 or 72 kg of carbon. 72 kg of carbon is equivalent to 100 litres of diesel. This is the equivalent of traveling nearly 4,000 miles in an average car. Source: WRAP On average, 1 tonne of recycled glass (cullet) replaces 1.2 tonnes of virgin raw material, saving 0.67 tonnes of CO 2 for every tonne of finished glass. In other words, by replacing 100% of the virgin materials with recycled glass, CO 2 emissions are cut by about 58%. Source: FEVE Increasing the use of cullet in glass packaging manufacture therefore also reduces the amount of CO 2 emissions. This leads to savings in both fuel and raw material costs.
Useful Facts and Figures 8 How much glass packaging is in the home? An estimated 2.4 million tonnes of glass packaging is used in the UK each year Of that 2.4 million tonnes, 1.8 million tonnes can be found in UK households each year. That s equivalent to nearly 10 million wine bottles every day The energy saving from recycling just one glass bottle will power a computer for 25 minutes, a TV for 20 minutes, or a washing machine for 10 minutes. Based on an average wine bottle weight of 500g How much glass packaging is collected and recycled in the UK? Around 1.3 million tonnes of glass packaging was collected from UK households in 2014/5 This means that 0.5 million tonnes of glass, equivalent to 2.8 million bottles of wine, is not being recycled every day Did you know? Around 87% of all local authorities in the UK collect glass packaging from the kerbside High performing authorities collect nearly 61kg of glass packaging from households per year with the best collecting over 100kg All glass packaging can carry the widely recycled logo if the brand/retailer of the product is a member of On-Pack Recycling Labelling (ORPL) scheme which is managed by OPR Ltd. recyclenow.com BOTTLE GLASS widely recycled
Consumer Insight Research indicates that ensuring glass is recycled for creating new bottles and jars isn t just good for the environment, reducing energy use and CO 2 emissions but consumers expect it too. 91% of those questioned in two local authority areas, felt it was important that their recycled glass was made into new bottles and jars (Cogent/British Glass 2011). How important to you is it that your glass is recycled by being made into new glass bottles and jars? 50% 39% Key Very Important Quite Important 9 Not very important 7% 4% Not important at all All respondents (200) Source: Cogent 2011
10 Below is a range of videos and web pages from glass manufacturers that tell the story of how glass is made. Videos: The Glass Making Process http://www.glassmakingprocess.com/ Fire & Sand https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dosxosb7oz4&feature=youtu.be How glass is made https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojwkhvv2se4 Reasons to love glass https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gffcpih0soa How are bottles recycled? http://www.britglass.org.uk/how-are-bottles-recycled How is it recycled? http://www.recyclenow.com/recycling-knowledge/how-is-itrecycled/glass Educational: The Adventures of Captain Cullet and Little Gob of Glass https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7udux7d87rc Glass Recycling Programme, Part 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fequgkw69_k Glass Recycling Programme, Part 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7e8me7grfiq Why glass? http://www.friendsofglass.com/gb/why-glass/ Infinitely recyclable http://www.britglass.org.uk/infinitely-recyclable Facts about glass http://www.britglass.org.uk/facts-about-glass
11 You have the ability to influence householders behaviour so we want to help you be involved in increasing the amount and quality of glass packaging waste collected. Friends of Glass and Recycle Now have worked together to produce materials and campaign advice, drawing on evidence and experience. Templates are available in many formats and focus on different messages so you can pick, choose and customise meet your local needs. Recycle Now User Guide Please read the Recycle Now User Guide when planning to use the materials. It provides details and guidance on how you can localise the resources to your area, and illustrates the flexibilities and restrictions in using the materials. Images of the individual recyclable product items can be downloaded here. Recycle Now USER GUIDE
Friends of Glass Recycle Now 12 Friends of Glass has a huge amount of information about glass and glass recycling on its website, plus copyrightfree images that can be downloaded from the Press/ Images pages. Please follow these links for more details: http://news.friendsofglass.com/ image-bank/ Communication Material Templates There are a wide range of materials that are available to download, customise and use. They have been designed to be flexible and adaptable to the local collection regime and priorities while maintaining the essence of the campaign brand. The materials are aimed at reminding householders specifically which glass packaging items can be recycled and that glass packaging occurs and can be recycled from all around the home. The templates available include: A4, A3 and 6 sheet posters Bus backs Pull up display banners Lamp post banner A5 leaflet with two different cover options. Both are customisable to a local service A4 and A3 Local Benefit posters including a formula to enable localisation of energy transformation Digital material which includes, web banners, animated web banners and social media images. Animation. There is also an animated film about how glass bottles and jars are recycled. A link to this film can be embedded on your websites. Template Press Release These can be adapted for those who provide a collection service for glass packaging. The template Press Release can be used by Local Authorities to communicate why it is good to recycle glass. This can be adapted for those where only bring banks are available.
Digital campaigns 13 Social media is a great way to promote the glass recycling message. You can follow the Friends of Glass or Recycle Now Twitter or Facebook feeds Twitter @FriendsGlassUK @recycle_now Facebook Friends of Glass Alternatively, you could link to www.friendsofglass.co.uk or the appropriate page on the Recycle Now website from your homepage or intranet. You can engage with Friends of Glass or Recycle Now campaigns through these channels or download the generic written copy and images to use in your own social media pages, intranet and website. Recycle Now
FAQs 14 Some FAQs residents/ consumers may ask you and some suggested responses that you could you use or customised to your own area. Q. What do I have to do with my glass bottles and jars before I recycle them? A. Make sure they are empty and replace any lids or caps, these will get recycled too. Q. Do I have to wash out the bottles and jars before recycling them? A. We ask that they are rinsed as it is more hygienic but it is not essential for recycling purposes. Q. Do I have to remove the labels on the glass packaging bottles before recycling? A. No, the glass reprocessors have the technology in place to deal with labels. Q. What does my glass packaging get recycled into? A. Depending on your collection method and waste contractor you may choose/ amend one of the following answers: 1. Your glass is sorted and recycled back into glass containers that are generally manufactured here in the UK. 2. Your glass is sorted and is sent for recycling back into glass containers in either the UK or Europe. 3. Your glass is sorted and used as an aggregate replacement here in the UK. Q. I ve heard that recycling glass back into glass containers is the best thing to do, why don t you do that? A. The reason that our glass doesn t go back into glass packaging is due to: 1. more equipment is needed to sort the material to the right quality acceptable for glass manufacture. 2. co-mingled collections are seen as being the most convenient collection method. 3. it is not economically viable for us.
FAQ s 15 Q. Can I put other items of glass, such as lightbulbs and wine glasses in my recycling? A. No, we just want glass packaging, other glass items cause problems during the reprocessing of the glass so are not wanted. Q. Can I put my glass oven wear, such Pyrex, in my recycling? A. No, we just want glass packaging, oven wear melts at a much higher temperature than glass packaging and causes problems during the reprocessing of the glass so is not wanted. Q. Can I put crockery in my recycling? A. No, we just want glass packaging and this material is not compatible and causes problems during the reprocessing and manufacure of glass. Q. Can I only put packaging such as bottle and jars into recycling? What about oven wear, drinking glasses, lightbulbs, window panes, mirrors or ceramics? A. Packaging glass has a different chemical composition to the glass used for other domestic and architectural uses which means it has different properties, such as melting temperature. Mixing other types of glass with packaging glass causes problems in the recycling process. So please only put packaging glass in your household recycling. Q. Why do I have to take my glass to a bottle bank, why don t you collect glass with my other recyclables? A. Depending on your collection method you may need to tailor the answer to this question but here are some suggestions: 1. We have good coverage of bottle banks across the borough and do not have capacity in the recycling collection scheme to add glass. 2. In order to keep the quality of both the glass and other recyclable materials high, we need to keep these separate. Q. How much glass is recycled? A. In the UK 1.3 million tonnes of glass is collected annually from households. This leaves around half a million tonnes that is not collected for recycling.
Glossary of terms Glass Packaging 16 Permanent Material Recycled material Reusable Renewable Glass is a permanent material which means its properties don t change during use regardless of repeated recycling into new products such as bottles and jars. Glass that has been reprocessed from recovered (reclaimed) material by means of a manufacturing process and made into a new bottle or jar. A glass bottle or jar that has been specifically designed for multiple use and extended life. Reuse glass bottles are recycled in the same way as single trip bottles and jars. Material that is composed of biomass from a living source such as wind, sun and waves that can be continually replenished. Recyclable When a material such as glass can be collected, processed and returned to use in the form of raw material or new products. Recycled content This refers to the proportion of cullet, or recycled glass present in a new bottle or jar. Recovered (reclaimed) material Material such as glass cullet - that would have otherwise been disposed of as waste but has instead been used in lieu of new primary material in the manufacturing process. Refillable A product or packaging that can be filled with the same or similar product more than once, in its original form and without additional processing except for specified requirements such as cleaning or washing.
Campaigns How can we help? 17 Do you have a glass recycling success story to tell? Share your glass recycling successes with us so that others may be inspired by your results! Please send details of your successes or images of how you have used any of the communications material in your local area or business to PartnerEnquiries@wrap.org.uk Remember to include: Your contact details Details of your glass recycling scheme Images showing the scheme in action. Friends of Glass is dedicated to promoting the environmental, health and taste benefits of glass packaging. If you would like to explore how the campaign could help with encouraging more glass recycling in your area, please get in touch (see contact details at the end of this Pack).
Campaigns 18 Leeds City Council promoting Glass recycling Take a look at the video here:
Contact details 19 For further information and any questions about glass recycling communications please contact: Friends of Glass www.friendsofglass.co.uk Contact: info@friendsofglass.co.uk British Glass www.britglass.org.uk Contact: 0114 290 1850 Recycle Now www.recyclenow.com Contact: www.recyclenow.com/can-we-help Glass Info Hub