From a theoretical point of view, it is perfectly possible to manufacture a new bottle exclusively from glass waste that citizens deposit in containers on the streets. However, the reality is different. In practice, bottles containing 100% recycled glass are not produced. As already explained in this blog, there is an important limitation, which is color. Some green bottles can incorporate a high percentage of already used glass, but other shades must be made mostly, or even all, with new raw materials.
The Reason Behind the Use of Recycled Glass What is the color that allows the more recycled glass to integrate? As some of the experts explain, emerald green allows 80-85% hull to be incorporated. On the other hand, to make dark green glass, 50-55% is put in the furnaces and 45-50% for the amber (brown). In the case of white (transparent), even screening the helmet as much as possible to remove the other shades, no more than 15% is included. In summary, the glass that comes out of the furnaces of this glass company uses, on average, around 40-45% hull. How to Identify Recycled Glass in the Bottle? Color determines how much-used glass can be used, but so does the quantity and quality of what is collected in the containers. In Spain, about 60% of the glass produced is recovered; So, it is what is available for recycling. On average, bottles made in the country could contain a maximum of 60% recycled hull or glass. However, this data is not entirely real, because many glass bottles are sold to other countries, and do not return (which reduces the recovery percentage). Spain exports more products packed in glass than it imports. In other words, more Rioja wine is sold abroad than Scotch whiskey is bought here. Just as important is that the glass recovered in the containers is not mixed with other materials, such as ceramics (tableware scraps). The better separated it is the more it can be used in a bottle, and vice versa. You have to be careful because the helmet usually has many impurities. One of the peculiarities of the bottle is that the percentage of rejection of defective containers in their manufacture is 7% when it is usually 10-12%. If the recycled glass part is left out, the rest of the ingredients put into the oven to make the dark green bottle are silica (sand), sodium carbonate, calcium carbonate, and, in much smaller amounts, calcium and calcium sulfate. sodium, as well as chromite, iron oxide, and graphite. To make a bottle from new components it is necessary to heat the sand at very high temperatures. With sodium carbonate (obtained from an industrial process called Solvay) and calcium carbonate (obtained from quarry materials such as limestone, marble, dolomite) it is achieved that not so much heat is needed in the process. Sulfates serve to remove gases and to make the glassy mass homogeneous. And everything else, which already varies greatly depending on each bottle, acts as a colorant. What Goes into the Furnace Influences Energy Consumption and the Generation of CO2 EMISSIONS? While manufacturing a bottle, CO2 is emitted in two different ways. One of them is using natural gas to heat the furnace. The second one is the carbonate emissions themselves in the smelting process. When glass recovered from containers is used, both the percentage of these carbonates and the energy required can be reduced. According to the data of this glass company, for every 10% of recycled glass that is used in excess, the energy consumption in the furnace is reduced by 2.5%. Therefore, we can see that 10 ml bottle boxes, 30 ml bottle boxes, 60 ml bottle boxes, and many other sizes can have reused bottles inside them. It has been mentioned by some of the renowned packaging firms that are providing custom printed CBD packaging boxes to the market. The Bottom Line There is an old debate about what is better: whether to recycle a bottle or reuse it (as was done in the past when you had to return the empty container). In the hierarchy for the best waste management, reuse is ahead. However, in the case of glass, it depends on the variables of the shipment and logistics: transporting an empty bottle such as the dark green one weighing 390 grams implies an energy expenditure that must be taken into account. For the general secretary of Antebi, the key is in the proximity and the marketing. According to it, to compensate for reuse, the transport routes cannot be very long and the bottles that are collected must be standardized high-consumption containers instead of very different containers for each brand. In the same way, when it comes to the real impact of recycling, the color of the bottle is again decisive. As we have seen, it is not as easy as melting a used bottle to recreate a new one. Read Also: How To Make Bath Bombs With CBD?
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