5 ms·

I'm under the impression glass is worth recycling as well. Prove me wrong.

pcmaffey 7y ago
Depends on the area, or so I learned recently upon moving to Montana, where they don't recycle it. Apparently most recycled glass is crushed up and used as roadbase. In MT, gravel is dirt cheap, and so it's not economical to use glass for construction, so into the landfill it goes. As for recycling glass into other glass, I can't say.
- trickstra 7y ago
  Making glass from scratch is incredibly energy intensive, and glass impurities can be handled (purified), so it always makes sense to recycle glass. Don't let your officials tell you any different.
  - pixl97 7y ago
    Not in single stream recycling. The problem? Glass gets crushed and ruins other recyclable materials. Also glass is very heavy when compared to a similar strength container made of plastic. That is why plastic took over the market.
  - brnt 7y ago
    I heard on a recent podcast from a Dutch recycler that recycling glas only saves ~10% of energy creating new glass. Melting the glass requires heat, and the raw material is not much more expensive than collecting used glass.
    - jimktrains2 7y ago
      You're not filling a landfill and you're not gathering more raw material. Both seem like a win, especially if it's cheaper, even by just a little.
  - xyzzyz 7y ago
    > Making glass from scratch is incredibly energy intensive Not much more than melting existing glass. It's not like aluminum, where melting is much cheaper than refining in the first place. > glass impurities can be handled (purified) It's much easier to handle impurities when you start with clean sand.
5555624 7y ago
Earlier this year, Arlington County, Virginia removed glass from their curbside recycling program, "A significant drop in the market value of glass recyclables means it is no longer economically or environmentally sustainable for the County to collect them via single-stream recycling." They have two drop-of locations, where residents can drop off glass "for crushing and reuse as construction and landscaping material." (https://newsroom.arlingtonva.us/release/arlington-shifting-glass-residential-recycling-carts/ https://newsroom.arlingtonva.us/release/arlington-shifting-g...)
- themeiguoren 7y ago
  The answer, unless you want to check the price of commodities each morning, is to recycle glass and bottles anyway and let the recycler decide if it’s economically efficient to send it to the landfill or to reprocessing.

Depends on the area, or so I learned recently upon moving to Montana, where they don't recycle it. Apparently most recycled glass is crushed up and used as roadbase. In MT, gravel is dirt cheap, and so it's not economical to use glass for construction, so into the landfill it goes. As for recycling glass into other glass, I can't say.

trickstra 7y ago
Making glass from scratch is incredibly energy intensive, and glass impurities can be handled (purified), so it always makes sense to recycle glass. Don't let your officials tell you any different.
- pixl97 7y ago
  Not in single stream recycling. The problem? Glass gets crushed and ruins other recyclable materials. Also glass is very heavy when compared to a similar strength container made of plastic. That is why plastic took over the market.
- brnt 7y ago
  I heard on a recent podcast from a Dutch recycler that recycling glas only saves ~10% of energy creating new glass. Melting the glass requires heat, and the raw material is not much more expensive than collecting used glass.
  - jimktrains2 7y ago
    You're not filling a landfill and you're not gathering more raw material. Both seem like a win, especially if it's cheaper, even by just a little.
- xyzzyz 7y ago
  > Making glass from scratch is incredibly energy intensive Not much more than melting existing glass. It's not like aluminum, where melting is much cheaper than refining in the first place. > glass impurities can be handled (purified) It's much easier to handle impurities when you start with clean sand.

5555624 7y ago

Earlier this year, Arlington County, Virginia removed glass from their curbside recycling program, "A significant drop in the market value of glass recyclables means it is no longer economically or environmentally sustainable for the County to collect them via single-stream recycling." They have two drop-of locations, where residents can drop off glass "for crushing and reuse as construction and landscaping material." (https://newsroom.arlingtonva.us/release/arlington-shifting-glass-residential-recycling-carts/ https://newsroom.arlingtonva.us/release/arlington-shifting-g...)

themeiguoren 7y ago
The answer, unless you want to check the price of commodities each morning, is to recycle glass and bottles anyway and let the recycler decide if it’s economically efficient to send it to the landfill or to reprocessing.