Cemex, the company that acquired Rugby Cement and RMC in 2005, is moving away from using recycled glass in road-making materials, and is instead favouring using more recycled asphalt.
” This is not good from a UK point of view, it will effect recycling and is a step back in meeting the 2008 Directive targets “
– Rebecca Cocking, British Glass
A spokeswoman for the company said that the company's decision was made for “commercial reasons”.
The Cemex product glasphalt had used up to 30% crushed glass.
However, the company maintained that the decision to move away from recycled glass meant a move towards using another recycled material, not a reduction in recycled content.
In a statement, the company said: “This year alone, Cemex has increased the use of recycled asphalt by 86% and expanded availability from a couple of sites to a network of plants across the country.
“Cemex is fully committed to recycling and has led the industry recycling into surface course with the recent completion of a five kilometre stretch of the M4, where recycled asphalt constituted 25%,” the company stated.
British Glass
There has been some competition for recycled glass between the aggregates and container industries in the UK. But container industry organisation British Glass said if other aggregates companies followed Cemex in turning away from recycled glass, there could be difficulties meeting UK packaging recovery targets under the Packaging Directive.
British Glass recycling manager Rebecca Cocking said: “This is not good from a UK point of view, it will effect recycling and is a step back in meeting the 2008 Directive targets. From a manufacturing point of view this will be beneficial to industry because there will be more materials available. But we are aware of the need for outlets for glass.”
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The aggregates industry recycled about 275,000 tonnes of glass packaging waste during 2005. The industry has been accused of encouraging a move by local authorities towards collecting more glass mixed, but has also been a useful avenue for the container industry to send excess green glass.
Mrs Cocking warned: “If all aggregates companies choose to go down that route there may be a problem.”
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