The Issue
Co-mingling Report
Questions & Answers about Glass Recycling in New Zealand
  
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The ongoing development of policies by Local Governments to increase the recovery of recyclable materials and their resulting diversion from landfill has lead to the development of new collection programmes, which are in the main, automated with the benefit of improved health and safety. One aspect, however which is not beneficial is the cessation of the traditional separation at source, the outcome of which is deterioration in the quality of glass offered for recycling and remanufacture. The challenge is to minimise the effects of the reduction of quality while enjoying the benefits of increased collection tonnages. An additional option is the establishment of alternative uses for those collections, which do not meet the standard required for the manufacturer of new containers. The Forum therefore has two prime objectives to assist those involved in the collection in processing the waste glass in their endeavours to present as much as possible of a high standard and secondly to find alternative uses for the balance. This second objective requires not only the identifying of the alternative uses but also the establishment of them as acceptable. |
Changes in the way Local Authorities collect household recyclables are likely to have an adverse effect on the quality of glass available for recycling. This is a direct result of all recyclables being transported as a combined load for subsequent separation. Overseas experience has raised concerns that, notwithstanding increased volumes being collected, there is a reduction in the amount available for recycling and an increase in the volumes which need to be landfilled.
Below is independent report addressing the subject
Co-mingling report (PDF 333KB)
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If you have kerbside recycling, you can put out your glass containers for recycling. There are also some landfills and transfer stations that have bins for recycling glass.
Remember, you can only recycle food and beverage containers, for example:
Clear glass jars and bottles
Brown glass (beer bottles)
Green glass (wine bottles)
The above types of glass can be fully recycled WITHOUT loss of purity when making a new bottle
You can't recycle light bulbs and fluorescent tubes, pyrex dishes and ovenware, china and crockery - cups, saucers, plates, decorated drinking glasses, window glass, opal glass, glass bricks, medical and laboratory glass containers, TV tubes and computer screens.
Why? Because if the recycled glass is being used to make new glass it must be pure and this means you can only use glass and beverage containers. Other types of glass can have a damaging or harmful affect on the quality of the new glass.
O-I New Zealand, New Zealand's only glass manufacturer, makes bottles and jars in seven colours. These are flint or clear glass, amber glass, blue glass and four varieties of green. The reason for sorting the glass is to maintain the green, brown and clear colours which consumers want and which are an important part of a product's branding and also to ensure that the glass furnaces can be run as energy efficiently as possible.
When the raw materials are mixed in the furnace, other minor ingredients are added (some of which will determine the colour of the glass).
When recycled glass (cullet) is added to the mix, it already contains these minor ingredients and can have an impact on the colour of the glass made.
It is really important that the bottles and jars are consistent in their colour, so they only add clear to clear glass in the furnace and green to green and so on.
If it is not going to make new glass it is not so important to have it colour separated but it still needs to be separated from other packaging.
Currently if glass is being collected with other packaging in large wheelie bins, this has to be sorted by a combination of magnets and hand picking. However if glass is mixed in by colour and compacted with other cans, plastic and paper on the collection truck, this does reduce the amount of glass which can be recycled into new glass.
Later this year, a new state of the art Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) will open in Auckland which will bring some of the best technology in the world to New Zealand to separate glass by colour and to separate materials by type.
However an independent report by Palmerston North City Council1 is concerned that based on overseas experience of co-mingled collections; glass should be kept separate from other materials at point of collection. This is because although more recyclables are collected, less good recycled glass is available to make new glass containers due to glass breaking into very fine pieces in transit. However glass collected in this way can still be used for other things such as aggregate for roads, concrete etc.
1 The Glass Packaging Forum has funded this research following a request for funding from Palmerston North City Council
It is really important to remove bottle tops and jar lids and other metals from your recycled glass, before it goes in the recycling bin. Metal can contaminate the glass recycling process. Of particular concern are the aluminium ring tabs and neck rings.
97% of New Zealanders have access to facilities to household recycling facilities, either at kerbside or at drop-off centres.
77% of New Zealand councils offer households a kerbside recycling service.
Check with your local council to find your nearest recycling facilities.
When commercial glass recycling first started, glass from all over the country was returned to Auckland to make new glass at the glass furnace. However in 2006 New Zealanders recycled nearly 110,000 tonnes of glass which is more than is needed to make new glass so councils and recycling operators are having to consider what else they can do with the glass.
BUT NOW THAT WE ARE RECYCLING MORE WE NEED TO FIND MORE USES FOR THE GLASS.
Glass can be crushed and made into:
Click here for further information on ALTERNATIVE USES FOR GLASS
- To make new glass containers from recycled glass has a lower cost than using raw materials but only if it is sourced near to the Auckland glass furnace because otherwise there are large transport cost - click here to access the Owens Illinois site.
- 80,000 tonnes of recycled glass are used to make new glass containers each year. The current recycled content of over 60% recycled in new glass is amongst the best in the world.
- Using recycled glass requires less energy to melt than using virgin materials (silica sand, soda ash etc)
- Less raw material is needed when recycled glass is used in a batch of new glass.
- Diverts glass from going into landfills
- Using glass as an aggregate for roads or concrete reduces quarrying
