by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
In December of 2009 Defra said that it was to consult on setting differentiated targets for glass according to recycling paths early next year, despite concerns from the Advisory Committee on Packaging (ACP) the practice should be extended to all materials.
The government said in its packaging strategy, unveiled in June, that it would propose targets for glass packaging dependent on whether the cullet is recycled back into new products – a closed-loop system – or used in 'open' processes such as aggregates.
A Defra spokeswoman said that the consultation would take place early in the new year, although could not confirm an exact date, and so far we have heard nothing else.
In a meeting in October 2009 the ACP said differentiation should apply to all materials, not just glass, and the Committee said it could "not agree on the proposal at this stage".
Defra explained the focus on glass, however, saying: "It is the only material where the difference in carbon savings between open- and closed-loop recycling was both pronounced and not incentivised by other market mechanisms."
Recovering more cullet*
Container glass manufacturers have long campaigned over the quality of material that is collected in the UK and the impact this has on the ability to recover more cullet.
David Workman, director general of British Glass, said manufacturers would support measures to "divert cullet away from aggregates and landfill, and back into closed-loop recycling".
But, he said, the interesting part of the debate surrounded the mechanism for collecting material and the fact that a lot of local authorities had entered long-term contracts with waste management companies.
"The devil's in the detail and it will be a significant issue to reverse the current mechanism," said Workman.
Workman said he hoped the consultation would go ahead according to plan, and admitted concerns that if left too long it could be shelved pending the general election.
"If we are determined to reduce energy consumption in the glass industry and make a positive contribution, we've got to get the material out of the waste stream," he said.
Why, but why, are we simply talking recycling of glass by breaking bottles and jars and then grinding the broken material down to make aggregates or even new glass.
David Workman, director general of British Glass, said that manufacturers would support measures to divert cullet away from aggregates and landfill, and back into closed-loop recycling. I would understand here then that they'd like to have bottles and containers made from it again.
Why then, I ask, does it go into recycling banks in the first place where it gets broken and then turned into cullet?
There was a much better system once and some countries do still have a remnant of it and that is the returnable bottles. If we could and would extend that also to glass jars – and it is possible for the great majority of them – we would save a lot of energy and with it carbon.
No one seems to be thinking in this way in government, though, it seems, and one is left to wonder as to why not. Without having proof of this I would still suggest the possibility that somewhere there are financial incentives involved to think only recycling of glass in the way that we do it at the moment rather than reusing.
Glass is one of the few materials that can be cleaned and reused indefinitely, or at least until such a time that it, in fact, breaks. Then, and only then, should the broken glass be sent for recycling.
However, it would appear that there is too much vested interest now in the destruction of the glass containers first in order to be able to feed and entire industry of recycling and it has very little to do with actually being green and looking after the environment. It has become an industry like any other and the managers think like that too.
© 2010
* Glass cullet is recycled container glass (previously used for bottles, jars and other similar glass vessels) prior to processing. The material is typically collected via bottle banks, kerbside collection schemes and from premises handling large quantities of containers, with the primary aim of processing it for returning to the glassmaking process to manufacture glass containers or other products. The term ‘cullet’ also refers, however, to waste glass produced as a result of breakage and rejection on quality control grounds during the manufacturing process.
