Today's KNOWLEDGE Share : 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝘆𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗽: 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗕𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗕𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲

 Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

🔄 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝘆𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗽: 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗕𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗕𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲

Glass recycling is more than just tossing a bottle into a bin—it’s a carefully coordinated loop that transforms used containers into raw material for new ones ♻️.

🛑 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟭 – 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

Consumers place used bottles and jars into bottle banks, curbside bins, or return systems. The better the separation from other waste, the higher the quality of the recycled glass (cullet).

🧹 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟮 – 𝗦𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 & 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴

Collected glass is taken to a processing plant, where it’s sorted by color (flint, green, amber) and cleaned of impurities like metal caps, plastic labels, or ceramics. These contaminants can damage furnaces or affect glass quality.

🪨 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟯 – 𝗖𝗿𝘂𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘁

Clean glass is crushed into small pieces called 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘁. This is the most valuable feedstock for a glass factory, as cullet melts at a lower temperature than virgin raw materials, saving energy and reducing CO₂ emissions.

🔥 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟰 – 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗰𝗲

Cullet is mixed with virgin raw materials and fed into the furnace. The more cullet in the batch, the less energy is needed to reach melting temperature—and the lower the carbon footprint of the final container.

🍾 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟱 – 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗚𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘀

Molten glass is formed into new bottles and jars, ready to be filled, sold, used… and recycled again. This is why we say glass has an 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗰𝘆𝗰𝗹𝗲—if we keep it in the loop!

📢 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗜𝘁 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀

Glass is 100% recyclable, and 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝟭.𝟮 𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗮𝘄 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀. That’s a big win for both the environment and production costs.

👉 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁

In our next post, we’ll focus on contamination in glass recycling—what it is, why it’s such a big challenge, and how the industry is tackling it.

source : Andrea Collini