Former Liverpool football legends Alan Hansen and Kenny Dalglish tried out the bunker, filled with finely granulated recycled glass, at the Golf World in the Park event in Southport.
 Kenny Dalglish and Alan Hansen test out the recycled glass golf bunker |
The bunker, which contained three tonnes of glass sand, was showcased by the Clean Merseyside Centre, a market development organisation for recycled materials on Merseyside. The Centre said golfers had praised the sand substitute for providing better stability than sand in terms of ball impact and footing.
“The granulated glass also has an attractive colour and sparkle and provides a potential valuable market for recycled glass on Merseyside and nationally,” it added.
Other uses for recycled glass include re-use in the container industry and use in road aggregates, ceiling tiles, shot blasting and water filtration.
Sports commentator and former international footballer Mr Hansen said: “If glass sand bunkers help improve the environment and boost the market for recycled materials then that's got to be a good thing.”
Clean Merseyside Centre manager Helen DeLemos said: “The market for recycled products is expanding fast and there is a real opportunity to combine generating new business opportunities with boosting recycling rates – a winning formula.”
About 1.5 million tonnes of glass are sent to landfill each year in the UK, with 73,000 being landfilled in Merseyside alone. By 2015, government targets demand that Merseyside must increase its household recycling tenfold.
Turf
The Waste and Resources Action Programme is also looking into the use of recycled glass as a medium for sports turf. It is currently sponsoring research by the Sports Turf Research Institute to look at used glass as a replacement for sand on golf courses and football pitches. A report on the results of WRAP's trials will be completed in March 2004.
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