Why is glass so hard to recycle?

Question

My local recycling center takes aluminum, plastic, and paper, but not glass.

Shouldn't glass be easy to recycle?

Answer 1

ANYTHING thrown in with the glass that shouldn't be there ruins the batch.   Window glass, pottery, wine glasses, radios, cans,....    It's actually very easy to recycle, but lazy or cheap people throw trash in with the glass instead of paying the few extra cents to dispose of it properly.

Answer 2

its not when done right  in your case there is proubly not enugh glass to recycle

Answer 3

most glass is made from sand...no money in recycleing old glass.....our county used to have bin 4 it but we stoped it after learning they were throwing it in landfill anyway....money loser/

Answer 4

It is easy to recycle and if they don't have a bank to take it, go to your council and demand one!

Would help if we had a general idea where you were

Answer 5

If the glass is not broken then it is probably useful as a drink container but in most cases the cost of washing it to achieve the necessary freedom from dirt and germs so high that it is better to start with a new one.

Broken glass is not very useful except as a land-filling material and for this purpose the quantities of other suitable materials are much more and the transportation of them on a different scale to that of your metals/plastic re-cycling center. Handling broken glass is also difficult if people are involved, due to them getting cut easily.

Answer 6

it really is'nt

Answer 7

With the exception of plastics, glass is currently the easiest substance we see on a regular basis to recycle.

With the exception of beer bottles, most bottles are simply re-melted and re-formed. They are NOT washed and re-used. The probability of an intact bottle making it to the furnace is almost non-existant.

The problem is that many places can't find a market to buy the (broken) glass from them.

Good Luck!

Answer 8

Replying from Shetland, UK...take a look at www.enviroglass.co.uk to see how glass can (and maybe should) be recycled. Best wishes!