Glass recycling

Tips for householders

• Glass can be recycled by placing them in the yellow topped recycling bin that is collected fortnightly for residents.
• Bulk glass items can be brought to Whytes Gully or Helensburgh Waste Disposal Depots - free of charge.

What glass can be recycled?

• All clear, green and amber glass bottles.
• All glass jars.

How to prepare glass for recycling

• Remove lids or caps
• Rinse bottles last after doing the washing up.

No room in your yellow topped recycling bin?
There is no limit to the number of recycling bins you can have at home. It costs $65.00* per year (2006-07 financial year) for each additional recycling bin, for a fortnightly collection.  Just call Council for details.

Did you know that clean glass, paper and cardboard, scrap metal and plastics can be dropped off free of charge at the Wollongong Council’s waste depots? This might be helpful if you have more recycling than can fit in your yellow bin.

Alternatively, why not ask your neighbour to see whether they have spare room in their recycling bin and offer to return the favour

*Council’s fees and charges are adjusted at July 1 each year. 

Which glass cannot be recycled?

• Broken window glass and broken windscreen glass.
• Heat-treated glass, e.g. Corning Ware, Pyrex or Vision Ware.
• Light globes or mirrors. 
• White opaque bottles (can’t see through them).
• Laboratory and medical glass.
• China and ceramics.

How can I reuse glass?

• Reuse containers to store milk and sugar when going on picnics.
• Reuse wine bottles to chill water in the fridge.
• Decorated glass jars and bottles can be used for vases.

Recycling process:

1. Bottles and jars collected in recycling schemes are sorted manually at the Materials Recycling Facility at Kembla Grange, run by Thiess Environmental Services;
2. Glass is sorted into clear, amber and green glass. Containers of different coloured glass are then taken to an ACI Glass beneficiation plant in Botany. Contaminants such as metals, plastic, china, ceramics and stones are removed and the glass is crushed;
3. Crushed glass is transported to the glass making factory where it is used with the other batch materials to make new glass containers;
4. Glass manufacturers today make glass bottles that are lighter than bottles made in previous years.  This process called ‘light weighting’ saves valuable resources such as energy and raw materials;
5. The glass recycling process produces an end product called ‘cullet’.  This crushed glass material is often mixed with virgin glass materials to produce new end products. According to ACI Glass Packaging, new glass bottles may be made with up to 100% cullet. Each tonne of cullet saves 1.1 tonnes of raw materials.

Positive environmental effects of recycling glass

• Saves natural resources such as sand, soda ash and limestone.
• Saves energy - recycled glass melts at a lower temperature than raw materials.  
• Reduces emissions; there are no by-products, air emissions are reduced and no waste is generated.

How much glass does Wollongong recycle?
In 2004-05, residents of Wollongong recycled 3197 tonnes of glass. Glass is the second most recycled product behind paper. Glass represents 23% of all products recycled by residents. Each year ACI Australia manufactures more than 1 million tonnes of glass. Only about one third of this is currently recycled.  Just think…the bottle you drink out of today could be a jar or bottle on your table tomorrow.  It’s your choice! 

A little bit of history
The discovery of glass dates back more than 5,000 years. In the First Century BC the Egyptians developed a way to hand blow glass bottles, with others continuing to make it that way for almost 2,000 years. 

During the last hundred years, mechanised glass blowing techniques have revolutionised the production of glass containers, allowing bottles to be produced quickly and cheaply. Today, glass containers are widely used to package a huge array of foods and drinks.

Sources:

• Visy Recycling website.
• ACT NOWaste website.