If glass is made of sand,why bother recycling it?
isnt there plenty of sand in the world,and wouldnt it cost the same to melt it back down as it does to make new glass?
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ALES LOMBERGAR is one of the few artisans in Europe who still practice the ancient art of glass acid etching which flourished in the late 19th century. Decorations are applied with resin resists by hand and then exposed to acid baths, with no machinery used. More information here.Recent in portfolio
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ontheplains
on November 30th, -0001
Because it takes up less enegry and material to recycle a glass bottle than manufacturing it from the sand.
The glass is essentially sodium silicate (Na2SiO3). It is produced by mixing good quality fine sand with caustic soda (NaOH), adding some additives such as fluxes, colors, cobalt, etc. and heating the mixture in a furnace at high temp.
For a freshly made glass, the consumed materials (soda, lime, borax, cobalt, etc.) required energy to produce and transport. The recycled glass is simply melted and color additives and fluxes used only if necessary, thus saving our planet from the waste of natural resources and enrgy.
Grapes
on November 30th, -0001
Too much trash in the world already. We’re getting overcrowded by our own refuse.
StarGirl
on November 30th, -0001
It is the filling of garbage dumps with things that should be reusable.
NaughtyNinja
on November 30th, -0001
why make more of something we’ve already got plenty of?
also…it takes a hell of a lot of energy to turn sand into glass…as it involves heating it to insane temperatures.
Cocktail
on November 30th, -0001
Because it saves energy.
It takes less energy to melt old glass than to also rearrange the chemicals in sand to make new glass, which is also molten.
CheeseCake
on November 30th, -0001
Bob got it right. Cullet (crushed recycled glass) is actually more expensive than sand on a weight basis, but requires significantly less energy to melt and reform. These energy savings overcome the additional cost of the raw material.
CrispApple
on November 30th, -0001
Well, its much more complicated than just “sand”. It has to be the right type of sand and of a certain purity. Glass is not just quartz sand, there are also many additives to give the product the various qualities we as consumers demand of it. Look up glass manufacturing and research. Recyclying glass resuses what has already been mined and I believe it requires less energy and raw materials to reprocess/remanufacture. IMHO of course.
StarbucksCoffee
on November 30th, -0001
Sand replentishment has dramatically slowed down because we control so many of our waterways. So while there may appear to be a lot of sand, we’ve futzed with the process and we’ll find out eventually what that entails.
Glass takes about a million years to break down. If we don’t recycle it, it goes into landfills, where usually materials don’t decompose quickly because of the way they’re managed. You can bury newspaper and come back 20 years later and still read the news.
Sunburst
on November 30th, -0001
Two reasons:
The energy involved in making glass from sand is much more than recycling the glass.
If you don’t recycle it, you have to dump it in landfills or it gets dumped in the street.
Sarah
on November 30th, -0001
Not really what you’re asking, but here’s how I recycle it: break it, put the shards in a container. when you need to shape wood, look through the box carefully to find a piece that’s the shape you need, shape the wood with it. (always follow the grain) It’s much faster than sanding, and gives you a finish that’s second to none, but you need a large amount of broken glass to find the shape you are looking for. (I’m an artist by the way)
SecretCelebrity
on November 30th, -0001
There are dozens of reasons to recycle but only 1 reason not to…that reason is laziness. There are so many landfills full of things we should have offered up to recycling or even just our neighbors that could still be very useful today. Being lazy is the only reason not to recycle cause there really are just no other reasons. There are always ways to do more if we just put the effort into it we could cut down the needless filling of landfills with recycleable items. And cut down the pollution that is actually hurting ourselves and our families. It takes resources, energy, and more to produce what we are already taking for granted. Reuse, Recycle, and take a good look at your trash…is really useless? Or are you just missing a better use for it? Composting is great too!!!
RadioActive
on November 30th, -0001
Why should we waste anything that can be reused?
BlindPoet
on November 30th, -0001
Recycle, Reduce, Reuse. Would you rather have a bunch of new bottles made instead of reusing and reducing the current waste?
Cat
on November 30th, -0001
It takes far more energy to turn sand into glass than to melt glass and reuse it. Besides glass degrades on a geological timescale (millions of years).
OpenRoad
on November 30th, -0001
you are missing the point
it is the making of the glass that causes the polution
the fires
KittyInCollinder
on November 30th, -0001
Melting old glass back down into usable glass uses far less energy and heat. It uses a completely different type of kiln to making fresh glass. The kilns for melting old glass are literally tens of thousands of pounds cheaper and most glass making companys only have this type of kiln or certainly a lot more of them.
The glass industry as a whole is crying out for old crushed glass as it saves it a ton of money in the long run.
The one thing I don’t agree with on this however is that the council recieves up to £1000 per ton for crushed glass and old steel from our recycling bins. They then try and make out they’re doing it for the enviroment…..yeah right.
CookieMonster
on November 30th, -0001
Do we have plenty of sand?
In certain areas maybe (deserts etc.) but transport costs are prohibitive.
Sand dredged from the sea is less plentiful.
Here in the UK we are loosing sandy beaches in certain areas due to excessive dredging.
LighteningBolt
on November 30th, -0001
Are ya dumb ?
Musicmaker
on November 30th, -0001
glass is NOT BIO-DEGRADABLE. and will not break down. So to recycle youcan remake usefull items of Glass, All glass can be recycled, so KEEP OUR COUNTRY CLEAN. RECYCLE. Ed
StoneHenge
on November 30th, -0001
Obviously it saves landfill by using what’s already out there! It’s landfill that’s the problem (in the UK), not lack of source! Where will our children put all their rubbish?