Waste reduction fast facts: Glass
Garbage and recycling › Resources for schools › Fast facts about waste reduction › Glass
This resource is not exhaustive nor is it all-inclusive, but can be cited and dated from primary and secondary sources. To find out more about the methodology or accuracy, contact the referenced source.
Metro does not validate nor endorse any of these facts.
- An estimated 6.4 million tons of glass beverage bottles were wasted in 2002. –Container Recycling Institute, “The 10 cent Incentive to Recycle,” Jenny Gitlitz and Pat Franklin, 3rd Edition, February 2004
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The average American generates 79.5 pounds of glass per year.
Environmental Protection Agency, “Municipal Solid Waste In the United States: 2000 Facts and Figures,” 2002
www.epa.gov.osw -
It takes approximately one million years for a glass bottle to break down at the landfill. –Environmental Protection Agency, 2002
www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/reduce/wstewise/wrr/factoid.htm -
In 2003, glass accounted for 5 percent of the total materials discarded (by weight) in the United States. –EPA, “Municipal Solid Waste in the United States: 2003 Facts and Figures,” 2003
http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/pubs/msw05rpt.pdf - In the Portland metro region, glass accounted for 2 percent of the total materials discarded (by weight) in 2002. –Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Waste Composition Study, 2002
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The U.S. glass recovery rate for 2003 was 19 percent. –Environmental Protection Agency, “Municipal Solid Waste In the United States: 2003 Facts and Figures,” 2003
http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/pubs/msw05rpt.pdf -
Recovery rates for glass in other countries in 2001:
Austria: 83 percent, Sweden: 84 percent, Germany: 87 percent, Belgium
and Norway: 88 percent, Finland: 91 percent and Switzerland: 92
percent. –European Glass Container Federation (FEVE), February 2003
www.affaldsinfo.dk/user/1007/4379.pdf (page 36) - In 2002, 38,542 tons of glass were recycled in the Portland metro region out of 56,623 tons generated. –Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Waste Composition Study, 2002
- Glass recovery rate in the Portland metro area is three times higher than the national average because of the Oregon Bottle Bill and curbside recycling collection services available to all households and businesses. –Metro, internal document, 2005
- Bottle bill recovery in the Portland Metro region for glass, cans and plastic bottles is 85 percent. This figure doesn’t include deposit containers set out in curbside recycling bins. –Metro, internal document, 2005
- Only amber glass bottles are manufactured from recycled bottles in Oregon; Oregon’s other colored recycled glass is trucked to plants in either Washington or California for glass re-manufacture. –Metro, internal document, 2005
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Producing glass from virgin materials requires 30 percent more energy than from crushed, used glass. –Environmental Protection Agency, 2002
www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/reduce/wstewise/wrr/factoid.htm -
Used glass or “cullet” melts at a lower temperature than raw
materials, reducing the demand for energy and lowering production costs. –Clean Washington Center, “Saving Energy with Cullet and Preheating,” November 1996
www.cwc.org/gl_bp/gbp3-0104.htm -
While a glass bottle can have up to 70 percent recycled
content, U.S.-produced bottles only contain an average of 26 percent
recycled content. –Waste Age, Chaz Miller, “Profiles in Garbage: Glass Containers,” February 2003
www.wasteage.com/ar/waste_glass_containers/index.htm -
Recycling one ton of glass saves the equivalent of 10 gallons of oil. –Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, “Recycling Facts and Figures,” PUBL CE-163, 2002
www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/aw/wm/publications/ -
The energy saved from recycling one glass bottle will operate a 100-watt light bulb for four hours. –Environmental Protection Agency, 2002
www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/reduce/wstewise/wrr/factoid.htm -
The energy saved from recycling one wine bottle will operate a 100-watt light bulb for three hours. –Calculation, courtesy of Robert Kirby, manager for R & D, Sandhill Industries, June 2003
kirbgood@aol.com -
Glass container companies employ over 20,000 people in glass manufacturing plants in 24 states. –Glass Packaging Institute
http://www.gpi.org/