Glass
TOCK was amazed to learn that glass is made from just 3 natural raw materials sand, limestone and soda ash which people get from digging these natural ingredients up from quarries. Unfortunately it takes a lot of energy to collect these materials and transport them to the glass making factories.
On average every family uses around 330 glass bottles and jars each year.
It made TOCK sad to hear that thousands and thousands of tonnes of glass are thrown away every year and end up in landfill sites.
Glass does not need to be thrown away into the landfill as one of the wonderful things about Glass is that it is 100% recyclable and can be recycled over and over and over again…..
Cool Facts about Glass
Recycled Glass can be used to make:
- New bottles and jars
- Made into Glassphalt – to resurface roads
- For creating and repairing the surfaces on golf courses and sports pitches, cemeteries, and as decorative mulch.
- In swimming pool or spa filtration systems
Recycling one glass bottle creates 20% less air pollution and 50% less water pollution than making a new bottle from raw materials.
The energy saved from recycling a single bottle will power a 100 watt light bulb for almost an hour, or a colour TV for 20 minutes.
The average glass bottle contains over 25% recycled glass but green bottles can contain as much as 90% recycled glass!
The UK currently recycles around 60% of glass containers.
The USA recycles around 33% of its glass.
Countries like Switzerland and Finland recycle more than 90% of their glass.
Glass recycling video courtesy of Recycle Now…
Glass placed into landfill will never decompose and will still be there in thousands of years. We know this because archeologists have found glass objects buried in the ground made by ancient civilisations more than 5500 years ago.
Check out some fun activities to bring new life to old glass containers on our TOCK Crafts page like these colourful glass bottles.
