| UK glass may fail on EU recycling target
Simeon Goldstein, Packaging News, 01 February 2007
The UK could struggle to meet EU Packaging Waste Directive glass recycling targets of 60% by 2008, despite the container industry recycling record quantities last year.
British Glass members recycled 756,000 tonnes of glass to make new bottles and jars in 2006, new figures show.
But this is 125,000 tonnes below the UK government business target for 2007, to recycle 69.5%, and represents only a 1.8% annual increase, compared to 10% growth in the previous year. Official government figures are due in the next couple of months.
British Glass recycling manager Rebecca Cocking said: ¡°These figures are a concern. If this slowdown continues, there must be real doubt about future targets.¡±
Cocking said that the growth of mixed glass collection was reducing the availability of clear and brown glass. The industry needs to colour separate glass before it can be recycled.
¡°This is costly and ironically increases the energy we use,¡± she added.
During the colour separation process, up to 15% of the clear and amber glass is lost because it cannot be easily extracted. The remaining glass is either exported, or, if it is of poor quality, used for other products such as aggregates.
However, using glass in aggregates is one-off recycling and fails to reap the environmental rewards associated with the closed-loop recycling for bottles and jars.
Insufficient clear glass is a long-standing issue in the UK. Scotch whisky companies export vast quantities, while a large amount of wine in green glass bottles enters the country. This means there is much more green glass than industry can deal with. |
