Recycling Rate of Glass Bottles
Where you and the glass bottle end up depends a lot on where you started. That’s especially true if you live in the US. Some US states recycle over 70% of their glass containers. Other states recycle less than 10%.
If you start in one of those low-recycling states,you and your bottle will probably get dumped in a landfill.
And that can happen even if you and your glass travel companion originally became acquainted inside a recycling bin.
But if you started in a high-recycling state, like Oregon or Maine, you would likely see bottle quickly collected,cleaned,sorted and
sent off as crushed glass to a glassmaker to manufacture new bottles and jars. How quickly?
A glass container can go from a recycling bin to a store shelf in as little as 30 days,according to the Glass Packaging Institute (GPI),a trade association representing the North American glass container industry.
Glass recycling is a multifaceted process driven by economics, local policies and logistics.
All of those factors must favor recycling for rates to increase.
Three of the main ingredients in glassmaking have changed very little since artisans began making the material thousands of years ago. Silica sand(mainly SiO2) accounts for roughly 70% of the weight of today's common glass formulations. The other components include sodium carbonate (Na2CO3), which is known as soda ash, and limestone (CaCO3).
Both of these are common minerals. Glassmakers combine these materials and feed them to a furnace that heats the mixture above 1,500 °C, forming a molten material that cools to form a type of glass known as soda-lime glass. That’s the most common and least expensive type, accounting for roughly 90% of all manufactured glass.