You know that we are all about achieving a circular economy here at DCW and that is why we love offering a glass bottle recycling collection service. As one of the most sustainable materials on earth, glass is 100% recyclable and can be melted down repeatedly to make new products without losing its quality, making it the perfect cog in the circular economy machine.
Many of us will be familiar with glass bottle recycling. After all, we’ve been doing it ever since the first UK bottle bank opened in 1977 in South Yorkshire. However, you might be surprised to learn that glass bottle recycling can be traced back to Roman times. It was the Romans who discovered that glass could be melted down and re-used, and that it was a lot cheaper than making glass products from scratch. It’s also hugely beneficial to the environment. According to British Glass, “every tonne of glass re-melted saves 246kg of carbon dioxide emissions as well as decreasing the energy needed to make glass and reducing reliance on virgin raw materials” (source: British Glass).
Why is glass bottle recycling important?
It’s so important that we continue to recycle glass. Luckily, the UK is already pretty good at recycling the material. In 2020, British Glass revealed that the recycling rate for glass in the UK stands at 76.5%, one of the highest of any recyclable material (source: Parliament UK). This figure reflects how easily household glass can be recycled in the UK. Most households have specific recycling bins for glass bottles and jars and many communities have glass bottle collection banks available to use.
Businesses also generate plenty of glass waste, particularly those which operate in the hospitality sector. It is estimated that 200,000 tonnes of glass is still being sent to landfill from the hospitality industry alone each year (source: Smarter Business) so there is definitely room for improvement. Not only will your restaurant, pub or café be helping keep carbon emissions to a minimum if you choose to contract a waste management and recycling service, you can also improve your sustainability credentials too and help manufacturers turn glass waste into new products.
How does glass bottle recycling work?
So, what are glass bottles recycled into and how does it work? Once glass has been collected by your waste management provider, it will be taken to a manufacturing or recycling plant and broken into smaller pieces called cullet. These broken pieces are then crushed, sorted, cleaned and melted so that they can be shaped into moulds to make new bottles (source: WWF).
It’s common for glass waste to be remoulded into new glass bottles or jars but there are other pretty cool uses for it too. For example, if it is crushed thoroughly enough, glass can be used in the construction industry as a replacement for sand or gravel. It can also be used for mixing with concrete and road surfaces. Devon-based Nkuku also uses 100% recycled glass in all if its beautiful glass products including tumblers, champagne glasses, vases and lamps.
Recycle glass with DCW
For glass bottle recycling in the South West, talk to DCW. It doesn’t matter how much glass waste your business produces as we can tailor recycling packages to suit you. We have several different sized glass bottle recycling bins for your business to choose from to help keep your glass recycling seamless and efficient. Choose from a 240 litre, 360 litre or 660 litre bin. Your glass doesn’t need to be sorted by your staff but all we ask is that you keep it separate from food and other waste types.
As a Zero to Landfill recycling company, DCW is committed to ensuring that none of the glass we collect from your business ends up in landfill, so you can be rest assured that your waste will be recycled responsibly and go into the making of new products. Now that’s something to shout about when talking about your sustainability credentials!
We hope you enjoyed discovering the importance of glass bottle recycling. If you would like to find out how DCW can help your business become more sustainable and contribute to our local circular economy, contact our team today on 01392 361300 or email sales@dcw.co.uk.