About Magazine Issue 22 - Winter 2003

Recycle your Glass

Map of Recycling facilities Eleven new glass recycling sites are being installed at pubs around the town, to make it easier to find a place to recycle bottles and jars.

In a new scheme to boost glass recycling rates, the Council has signed a deal with a company that recycles glass and turns it into a sand substitute to use in road building locally. This means the glass no longer needs to be separated by colour, as it does when it is collected to be recycled into bottles. Instead, all bottles and jars can be mixed and collected together before being taken to Mountfield where the glass will be processed and turned into the sand substitute.

This means that new single bins can be used. Following a deal with local pub landlords these have been installed in pub car parks across the town, bringing the total number of glass recycling sites to 15. Central St Leonards and Hastings town centre will soon have new recycling bins on the street and underground bottle banks are going to be installed in the Old Town and in Central St Leonards.

Councillor Bob Hart, Cabinet Member responsible for environment, said:

"We're constantly looking at new ways to boost our recycling rates and preserve the environment. When we talk to residents about what would encourage them to recycle more, the answer is always to make it easier.

"When we introduced the doorstep or black box recycling scheme, paper recycling increased from 16.6 tonnes per week to 44.2 tonnes per week. We're hoping that increasing paper recycling facilities in areas which do not have the doorstep scheme will help even more. Glass recycling is now a major priority. I think it's absolutely brilliant that we will now be able to recycle locally, reducing emissions because collection vehicles do not have to travel so far and that we'll be able to use it to improve and repair roads.
"I hope everyone will try and recycle where and when they can and help us achieve the target of 18% of all household waste being recycled by 2005."

Glass facts and figures

566,563 tonnes of glass packaging was recycled in 2000, saving the energy equivalent of 1.8million gallons of oil
The colour of glass is partly determined by the iron content of the sand used as a raw material
Glass is 100% recyclable with no loss in quality
On average a UK family consumes around 500 glass bottles and jars each year, but we recycle less than 30% of these items
Increased recycling in 2001 saved enough energy to launch nearly four space shuttle missions

Why recycle glass?

Glass recycling reduces pollution and emissions

Because glass is 100% recyclable, energy used to quarry the raw materials and make glass products is reduced (glass recycling uses less energy) and so pollution and emissions are lower.
Glass recycling reduces landfill.
Every ton of glass recycled extends the life of our increasingly scarce landfill sites.

Glass recycling cuts waste disposal

In terms of weight, glass makes up about 8% of the household waste stream. Any increase in the amount of glass recycled means savings on escalating waste collection and disposal costs.

Glass recycling raises profile of other green issues

Every individual can play an active part in conservation by simply supporting glass recycling - a first step towards becoming an environmentally active consumer.

Facts and figures courtesy of http:www.glasspac.com

For more information on recycling telephone 01424 781382 or email refuseandrecycling@hastings.gov.uk

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This page last updated: 16/12/2003