Government plans to encourage more glass to be recycled into new bottles are unlikely to be effective, according to the glass industry trade body. British Glass says more councils need to start collecting glass by colour or separately from other recyclables if there is going to be a move away from using glass to make aggregates. The UK collects a very high proportion of the 1.6M/tonnes of waste glass produced annually. About 93% of waste glass produced by businesses, such as pubs and clubs, is recycled, according to a 2010 survey for the environment department. Four fifths of councils provide kerbside glass collections to households. Despite that coverage, there has been a decline in the proportion of glass recycled through remelt to manufacture new products. According to British Glass, 81% of glass recycled in 2005 was remelted, but in 2010 that had fallen to 64%. The decline is because glass is being used to make aggregate instead, which has fewer environmental benefits. Remelt saves about 0.3 tonnes of carbon per tonne of glass recycled; aggregate saves none. In December, DEFRA put forward measures to halt the decline in remelt. Its new packaging recycling targets up to 2017 include separate glass remelt and aggregate targets. The change was confirmed in this year's Budget. The split should freeze the amount of glass that can go to aggregates at about 650,000/t, DEFRA says. British Glass supports the split, but feels it will have little effect because DEFRA has not proposed a significant increase in the overall glass recycling target. This means that the cost of packaging recovery notes (PRNs) - the evidence firms need to supply to show they have recycled glass - may remain low and there will be no money to finance the infrastructure needed to boost remelt. The body says the increasing council preference for commingled collections produces poorer quality recyclate, which usually goes to aggregate. Only significant investment in materials recycling facilities that can separate remelt-quality glass from commingled waste will overcome that problem. DEFRA is proposing two PRN types for remelt and aggregate, but there is no guarantee that remelt PRNs will be higher value.
