A Huge Problem with the Economics of Glass Recycling

Recently I have read two or three articles like this one, on the increasing number of glass bottles that are intended to be recycled but never make it into new class containers. There are landfills and recycling centers in places like Cheyenne, WY where there are literally mountains of glass piling up because the economics of recycling just don't fit.

The people of America whether in a small town or large city are now trained to recycle everything we can. There are recycling dumpsters in schools, offices, homes, and public places. There has been a tremendous amount of success in getting people into recycling. There are still people who don't recycle at home, but the numbers are improving.

Unfortunately, it isn't enough to just recycle materials if there isn't a market for the recycled material. We understand this in my family and we make a conscious effort to purchase recycled paper and other items from recycled material. It is just as important to close the loop as it is to just recycle.

There appears to be some success with the paper industry. I see recycled paper and cardboard being used on all kind of products we use at our house. But what about the recycled glass industry. It isn't working as well.

Why don't bottling companies buy recycled glass? It is more expensive. The major ingredient in glass is sand, something that is not in short supply. It is actually cheaper for a bottling company to buy brand new glass than it is to buy recycled glass. The recycled glass industry is forced to lower its price to try and compete with new glass. This lowers the price recycling centers can get for their collection of used glass to a point where they lose money in transporting the used bottles to a glass recycling plant.

The high transportation costs due to the high price of gasoline is prohibitive to cities located away from glass recycling plants. As gasoline increases or the price of glass drops any more the number of cities not recycling will increase.

This is an interesting problem. The only thing we can do as consumers is to support companies that do use recycled glass and encourage more to follow. While the manufacturing of glass doesn't destroy rain forests or require the use of petroleum (like plastics) it does fill up a lot of landfill space. Think about how you can help.