Remelting recycled glass leads to savings on fuel and raw material costs, something the glass industry has know for some time. However, using cullet can also bring down CO2 emissions, as proved by a study carried out by Glass Technology Services (Glass Technology Services), a group of leading glass container manufacturers, and The Carbon Trust, an independent company funded by government to help the UK reduce carbon emissions. The study has also produced a model to help glassmakers optimise furnace efficiency at any combination of production level and cullet ratio. The UK container sector currently operates 32 furnaces, each melting an average of 207/tpd and consuming 304MWh of energy, which was monitored over a 12m/period, with the findings collated by Glass Technology Services.
