Glass: Clear, Brown and Colors

Glass recycling is the process of turning waste glass into usable products. Depending on the end use, this commonly includes separating it into different colors because glass colors are achieved through the addition of different ions to the glass mixture.

Facts On Glass

• A glass bottle would take 4000 years or longer to decompose and even longer if it's in the landfill.
• The glass container industry has almost 50 manufacturing plants located throughout the U.S.
• We can recycle domestically.
• Every month, we throw out enough glass bottles and jars to fill up a giant skyscraper.
• Glass containers produced today are 40 percent lighter than when they were 20 years ago, which makes them easier to recycle.

Benefits of Glass Recycling

Glass is an ideal material for recycling and where it is used for new glass container manufacture it is virtually infinitely recyclable.

Because glass is made from naturally-occurring materials like sand, it has a low rate of chemical interaction with the contents of the container, which makes it a safe material to be reused.

Mining and transporting raw materials for glass produces about 385 pounds of waste for every ton of glass that is made. If recycled glass is substituted for half of the raw materials, the waste is cut by more than 80%

More information can be found at Earth911.com, and the US Environmental Protection Agency.