Data from the Confederation shows that in 2000 bottle bank glass represented 433,000 tonnes or 76% out of 567,000 tonnes recycled into container glass. For the industry in 1999 bottle bank glass had represented 407,794 tonnes or 82% out of 499,000 tonnes recycled.
The reduced proportion of bottle bank glass being used by the container glass industry is seen as a sign that manufacturers are looking to source material elsewhere as they increase their recycling content of new bottles and jars. But, the banks are still essential to the industry and have a vital part to play in helping councils reach their targets although many council recycling officers have long held the view that it is now hard to find new sites for bottle banks.
Ian Maxwell, who has held responsibility for glass on Larac, the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee, said: “It is very difficult to find extra sites for bottle banks and for other materials in general and I think this is a view commonly held by council officers.” He added that he thought once a council had reached a recycling rate of about 10% the level of use of banks could be at its limit and further increases would have to be through kerbside work although most schemes did not collect glass.
Average tonnage
However, on a positive note, the number of bottle bank sites rose to 22,772 last year, up by 752 on 1999 and the annual average tonnage per bank rose from 18.5 tonnes to 19 tonnes.
It is thought that the other extra material being used by the glass container makers is coming from commercial collections and some kerbside recycling.
However, senior sources within the glass sector say the rate of growth of bottle bank collection is “disappointing” and in the last quarter of 2000 was showing an increase of only 1.2% per annum although overall the bank total rose by about 6% last year.
Last month the Glass Confederation reported a 14% rise in year on year glass recycling from 1999 to 2000. It said this represented a substantial rise in the level of UK glass recycling achieved in large part through “further significant support from the glass packaging industry. And the Confederation said that almost three quarters of 3.1 million income from packaging waste recovery notes (PRNs) was spent on supporting the glass collections systems by maintaining price and investing in bottle banks.”
Note: the Confederation has pointed out that its bottle bank data may not be wholly reliable as some councils do not supply accurate data.
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