In the grand scheme of recycling and source reduction for consumer and business materials, glass recycling has its own niche. Those who analyze the process debate how or whether to recycle glass, but businesses have a significantly different view than the average consumer. A business will decide whether to recycle any waste glass from its processes, as well as how to cut down on glass use or modify manufacturing processes.

When a business needs training and education on aspects of recycling glass, the web can provide various resources. Government, business and independent groups have put out a lot of public glass recycling resources online, including:

1. Government guides to glass recycling for businesses and consumers.

2. Public glass recycling sites offering links to glass buyers, recycling agencies and other groups as well as statistics, categories and more.

3. Public web forums where posters discuss aspects of business and residential glass recycling.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Get glass recycling info from government sources

The federal U.S. EPA has stepped up to the plate to offer glass recycling resources for businesses and consumers. State and local agencies have also promoted glass recycling through a lot of useful online pages.

I recommend: Get "Just the Facts" about glass recycling at the U.S. Department of Environmental Protection website. Learn more about glass recycling companies, common methodologies and glass recycling buyers at state or local sites like the California Integrated Waste Management Board.

Locate other glass recycling resources from public interest sites

Other groups also list a lot of important info about glass recycling for training businesses and other kinds of readers in how to deal with the issue of maximizing the value of silica materials.

I recommend: Get recycling training and other resources at the Glass Packaging Institute. Look for lists of glass recycling company types and categories and more at Recycler's World. Check out the Kentucky Division of Waste Management, which has a program on glass recycling. For a general recycling course, including glass, look at the Whitlock Training Group at Earth911.

Look for tips and info on glass recycling from public web forums

Another resource for glass recycling information and tips is the public sites where involved parties post in open forums about what kind of glass recycling, if any, is best for the earth and the human community.

I recommend: Learn about recycling glass in various colors at the forums at DoItYourself, where posters discuss attributes of the process for glass recyclers and some factors in how the glass recycling business works. Find more posts on glass recycling at City-Data forums.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  When looking for glass recycling education and training, keep each of the 3Rs in mind: reduce, re-use and recycle. All three of these help businesses toward an overall path of limiting glass source reduction and getting efficient about helping to curb landfill waste.

Glass recycling is one of many steps businesses take to create a greener work place. In 2006, America dumped 13.2 million tons of glass in the municipal waste stream. Only 22% of that was recycled. Every ounce of recycled glass can be reused in different ways: as new glass products, concrete, home decor and much more.

Recycling glass is only the first step, though. Buy recycled glass to complete the process. More than 90% of recycled glass goes toward new glass products. Glass manufacturers rely on a steady supply of recycled glass known as cullet to form new products. Using recycled glass also benefits glass recycling companies because its cheaper and requires less energy to melt to form new glass.

1. Glass recycling businesses vary from city to city. So, contact your local waste management company for information about glass recycling.
2. Many glass recycling companies offer pick-up services and pay for recycled glass.
3. Purchase materials made from recycled glass to save energy and prevent the consumption of more raw materials.
   

Action Steps
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Find a glass recycling business

Every city provides different municipal regulations to handle recycled materials. Keep residential glass out of landfills by finding your local glass recycling company and its requirements for recycling. Glass must be separated by color and type to recycle. Some glass recycling businesses may sort the glass, but, others require you to sort them.

I recommend: Planet Recycling offers industrial products, including glass recycling equipment, as well as solutions to recycle glass. Earth911 offers a search engine to find local glass recyclers and information about glass recycling.

Sell recycled glass

Glass recycling as a business can be profitable since most glass manufacturers rely on a steady supply of cullet for production. Residential glass, such as wine bottles, soda bottles, vases, and decorative glassware are converted into new glass products.

I recommend: Visit Glassgo Exchange Network for a listing of glass recycling buyers. Check out the market price for various forms of recycled glass at RecycleNet.

Buy recycled glass

In the glass recycling business, the end product is a new glass product. To fulfill your recycling efforts, purchase recycled glass products. By buying glass made from recycled materials, you support recycling companies; these are usually small, local businesses. In addition, you save raw materials and energy. Recycled glass cullet heats quicker than raw materials and therefore requires less time and energy to process.

I recommend: The California Integrated Waste Management Board provides a list of companies selling recycled glass as new products. Contact EnviroGLAS for a recycled glass home and office building products.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  During the glass recycling process, an entire batch of recycled glass can be ruined if glass is not cleaned and separated appropriately. Rinse out bottles and food containers. Though every recycling center varies, the main categories to divide glass by are flint (clear), amber, and colored. Do not include window glass, light bulbs, ovenware or ceramic material.

Regardless of your type of business, glass recycling is an important element to include in a green workplace. It not only helps to create new glass bottles and containers for drinking, but it is also used to make sand, concrete and building materials. Not all types of glass can be recycled together, and the type or color of the glass can affect the outcome of the recycled product. Most types of glass can be recycled an infinite number of times, so it is important to stay up- to-date on glass recycling key terms.

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Colored glass

Some glass drinking bottles and other pieces of colored glass are created by adding a coloring agent to the manufacturing process. This coloring agent can never be removed. Glass that is a certain color before the recycling process-whether that color is flint, amber or green-can only be used to make products of the same color. These colored glass pieces have to be separated and recycled separately.

I recommend: Find information about colored glass at Earth911.com. The site includes facts about the most common glass colors that can be recycled.

Cullet

The process of glass recycling includes the creation of a cullet. A cullet is essentially a large mass of crushed glass that is used to make new glass items. It is created through a heating process that melts the glass and destroys any paper labels.

I recommend: Go to AZo.com for an explanation of the term cullet and how it is used in glass recycling.

Container Glass

Container is a common term that is used in glass recycling. It is a name that refers to a group of recyclable glass. These types of glass are some of most common glass items that are recycled.

I recommend: Waste Management has a large amount of information about glass recycling and container glass, specifically.

Lightweighting

In glass recycling, lightweighting is a process that reduces the volume of glass that is needed to make new glass products. Lightweighting not only saves raw materials and natural resources, it also reduces pollution and the amount of energy that is used.

I recommend: Read John Wiley & Sons' InterScience for facts about lightweighting and how it is used in glass recycling as a cost-effective method for everyone involved.

Glass crusher

A glass crusher is an important machine that is used in the glass recycling process. It is one of the first machines that used glass comes into contact with, and it is essential in making the cullet.

I recommend: Find the latest information and innovations of the glass crusher machines from American Recycler.

Glass recycling, like other types of recycling, cuts down on the landfill waste, and it also saves natural resources and energy. Glass recycling companies take residential glass bottles, jars, containers and packaging, and crush them into pieces of material called cullet. Cullet, or the crushed glass, is then used with glass recycling equipment and combined with sand, limestone and soda ash to form new glass products. Additionally, recycled glass melts at lower temperatures and creates less pollution than glass made from brand new materials.

In addition to cullet creation, some of the glass recycling basics involve separation of contaminants and reformation. First, the glass recycling business removes contaminants or coloring agents so that the reusable glass can be incorporated into building materials like concrete or fiberglass. During the glass reformation process, the cullet melts, then it is molded and reshaped into containers, bottles, jars, packaging and more.

1. Learn about some of the facts and benefits of recycling glass.
2. Work with glass recycling companies who can aid in recycling your glass products ranging from bottles, jars, containers and others.
3. Find glass recycling equipment if you choose to enter the glass recycling business.
4. Buy recycled glass to manufacture products for your business.
   

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Find resources about some of the benefits of glass recycling

Search for general information about glass recycling basics, whether you want to distribute glass products or start your own glass recycling business.

I recommend: Get the facts about glass recycling basics at Green Mountain Glass. The Glass Packaging Institute also provides steps on recycling glass. Earth911 also features information about glass recycling basics, as well as the benefits.

Contact glass recycling companies that offer services

Find a glass recycling company that specializes in reusing glass products and provides other services.

I recommend: Planet Recycling offers services such as program setup. The ECG Company provides direct glass recycling services to public entities and private companies.

Buy glass recycling equipment for your own business

Glass recycling equipment works for residential glass, window glass recycling and more.

I recommend: Glass Aggregate Systems manufactures equipment for glass recycling and conversion. The C.S. Bell Company stocks glass crushers and other glass recycling equipment.

Search for recycled glass to use as part of your product line

Depending on your specialty, get information about glass recycling and shop for recycled glass from different dealers.

I recommend: EnviroGLAS produces flooring, countertop and other designs from recycled glass. Bedrock Industries also manufactures a variety of household and industrial products made from recycled glass.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  In addition to appearing as clear, recycled glass also comes in blue, green and brown. Glass recyclers typically separate the colors to prevent the mixing of colors and chemicals during the glass reproduction process.
• •  Clear, or colorless, recycled glass appears on grocery store products like pasta sauce jars. Blue glass, made by adding cobalt oxide, can be used to store ink. Green glass, used for most wine bottles, is made by using copper, chromium or iron. Items such as beer bottles sometimes appear as brown glass, which is formed by using carbon, nickel and sulfur during the production process.