Crystal Clear Facts

• The oldest examples of glass are Egyptian beads dating from 12,000 BC.
• The UK glass industry recycled 587,000 tonnes of glass in 2001, saving enough energy to launch 10 space shuttle missions.
• The energy saved by recycling one bottle will:

• Power a 100 watt light bulb for almost an hour
• Power a computer for 25 minutes
• Power a colour TV for 20 minutes
• Power a washing machine for 10 minutes

• On average, every family in the UK uses around 330 glass bottles and jars each year. However, we only recycle 30% of these containers.
• Glass is 100% recyclable and can be endlessly recycled with no loss in quality.
• The UK has more than 50,000 bottle banks.
• One bottle bank can hold up to 3,000 bottles before it needs to be emptied.

How is Glass Recycled?

• Glass is collected from the bottle banks and the kerbside collection boxes. The glass is then sorted by colour, keeping the clear, brown and green glass separate.
• The glass is transported to the processing plant where it is washed and all impurities such as plastic are removed.
• The glass is crushed into cullet (small pieces) and is now ready to be transported to the glass factory.
• At the glass factory, the cullet is melted in a large furnace and then moulded to make new bottles and jars. Glass is also used as a material to make roads. Glasphalt looks just like any other tarmac, but is 30% crushed glass, specially treated so it won’t puncture tyres!