Figures from British Glass show that 875,000 tonnes was recycled last years, compared with 747,000 in 2002 and 736,000 in 2001.
”This performance is only the start of the growth needed to meet the 60% glass recycling target for 2008“
– Andrew Hartley, British Glass
The trade confederation said that the quantity of recycled glass used in making new containers increased by more than 80,000 tonnes to 617,500 tonnes in 2003.
This took the proportion of recycled glass in the average new container in Britain to 38%, four percentage points up on 2002.
Some 100,000 tonnes of glass was exported to container manufacturers elsewhere in Europe. And a further 175,000 tonnes went to uses such as shot blasting, water filtration and production of construction materials.
The final total, which is still subject to confirmation by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, is expected to be around 875,000 tonnes.
Andrew Hartley, British Glass' strategy and communications director, said: “This performance is only the start of the growth needed to meet the 60% glass recycling target for 2008 under the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive.”
Target
He said the UK would have to increase the amount of glass recycling by some 110,000 tonnes each year to achieve the 71% target set for obligated businesses (see letsrecycle.com packaging section). Mr Hartley described this target as “very challenging” and said it would depend on continued support from central and local government.
But Mr Hartley said that sufficient reprocessing capacity already exists to recycle or re use all the glass packaging that could be collected.
“There remains great potential for increased glass recycling,” he said. “Capacity exists in the container industry to recycle over a million tonnes of glass.”
Subscribe for free