How is glass recycled?
Glass recycling in Australia
Glass can be used for so many things, whether it’s to build the windows of a home or beer bottles for a brewery. There is a high demand for sand-based material, which poses the question, after its use or when it’s broken, what happens?
Glass recycling process
Once the glass has been disposed of it must go through a multi-step recycling process to ensure that the used glass can be used again and again. Firstly the glass is collected via recycling trucks or from street-based glass bottle collection bins. The glass is then transported to the recycling centre where it is washed and sorted by colour.
Machines will crush and break down the sorted glass so that it can be melted down easier. It can then be placed into moulds to make decorative products, jars, bottles or fibreglass. Glass maintains its quality and strength throughout the recycling process, so it can be recycled over and over again.
What types of glass can I recycle?
Have you ever accidentally bumped into and broken a drinking glass? Maybe the kid's ball games in the house left you with a smashed light bulb? Whatever the scenario may be, whenever you dispose of glass it is important to know what types of glass can and cannot be thrown into the recycling bin.
The glass that you can put in the recycling bin includes:
- Jars (pickles, jam, baby food, pasta sauce etc)
- Wine & spirit bottles
- Beer bottles
- Mason Jars
- Condiment bottles
- Perfume bottles
Types of glasses that are not suitable for recycling bins are,
- Ceramics
- Window panes
- Windscreens
- Drinking glasses
- Light bulbs
- Mirror glass
- Ovenproof glass
- Broken glass (except for Broken bottles)
- Eyeglasses
- Phone or computer screens
- Test tubes
These types of glasses require higher heat to be melted down in order to be recycled, so mixing these in with recyclable glasses can ruin the entire recycling process.
How do I dispose of recyclable glass?
For broken glasses, light bulbs or other small glass products, tape any broken shards of glass together for the safety of the waste handler. Wrap the broken glass in several sheets of newspaper before disposing of it in the general waste bin.
However, when large items like window panes or ovenproof glass are broken, removing them yourself is very dangerous and should be handled by a professional glazier. Glaziers are skilled tradespersons that specialise in dealing with glass products. They can not only safely remove the glass, but they also can provide you with an installation of the replacement product. Glaziers can cut glass down to whatever size the client requires or repair the existing glass.
To get in touch with an experienced glazier contact us today by calling 0436 452 771 or completing our online glass service request form today.
