Lynn Bragg is the President of the Glass Packaging Institute (GPI). Founded in 1919, the Washington, D.C.-based GPI represents the North American glass container manufacturing industry. To find out more about the strong environmental position of glass containers, visit www.gpi.org and sign up to receive the institute's monthly e-newsletter.
This spring, the Glass Recycling Coalition (GRC) surveyed 250 public-sector officials, materials recovery facility (MRFs) operators and glass industry representatives to gain insight on the state of glass recycling.
Members of the glass recycling supply chain, along with local and state agency partners, are critical components to set up and facilitate many community and state glass recycling programs. Partnerships in the recycling arena are not necessarily limited to funding or capital investment for equipment or infrastructure, and often focus on recyclable materials purchasing agreements, as well as steady end markets for glass recyclables.
In celebration of America Recycles Day 2016, the Glass Recycling Coalition (GRC) launched its website, www.glassrecycles.org. The GRC also kicked off the first in a series of webinars targeting a variety of topics—adding another resource to support making glass recycling work.
Over the past year, recycling industry stakeholders and governments have taken a renewed interest in how recycling and recovery rates are measured for packaging, including glass containers and other recyclable materials.
Today in the U.S., 10 states operate beverage container deposit refund programs (BCDRPs), which provide the most consistent source of quality recycled glass (cullet) for the glass container industry. It’s estimated that these programs supply anywhere from 65-80% of the recycled glass used to make new bottles and jars. Similar to sand, soda ash and limestone, recycled glass is a critical manufacturing input.
The Glass Packaging Institute (GPI), along with beverage leaders—including Diageo and New Belgium Brewing—and the glass processing and recycling industries, have gathered a dynamic group of organizations to advance glass recycling in the U.S. Called the U.S. Glass Recycling Coalition, the nearly two dozen member organizations will aim to make glass recycling a successful industry, as well as the efficient, high-quality, and convenient service consumers want and expect.
As frequent readers of this column know, the glass container manufacturing industry has a consistent and strong demand for recycled glass at its 45 glass plants across the U.S. In 2015, glass manufacturers purchased 2.4 million tons of recycled glass for remelting into new containers.
The Glass Packaging Institute (GPI) and its member companies are engaged in collaborative efforts with other stakeholders to improve glass recycling in 2016.
The rapid rise of single-stream curbside recycling, along with the number of materials being put in the recycling cart, has created convenience for consumers.