Wrap issues glass recycling guidance

The 20-page Good Practice Guidance provides information on the potential benefits to local authority waste managers of making the most of collecting and recycling waste container glass (cullet).

It emphasises how a sustainable service for collecting glass of the best possible quality for end markets can provide advantages in terms of saving money, energy and resources.

The guidance was developed to help local authority officers understand more about the UK demand for colour-separated cullet and the related environmental benefits of glass recycling so they are better informed when reviewing services and tendering contracts.

It was developed following significant research into glass collection and reprocessing practices with local authorities and waste management companies.

Marcus Gover, Wrap market development programme director, said: “How waste glass is collected can have a huge impact on its subsequent re-use and end markets. So we are keen to work with local authority officers and waste management contractors to help to make this a success.”

Some 1.5 million tonnes of cullet is collected in the UK each year. However, an increasing proportion of this is mixed-colour which often cannot be sorted sufficiently for recycling back into glass bottles.

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