At more than 2,500 year old, glass bottles are one of the oldest forms of packaging. Glass containers can be re-used many times and recycled indefinitely. The three main ingredients in glass are sand, soda ash and limestone. In Australia, most glass produced contains a substantial proportion of recycled glass. There are significant environmental and economic benefits from recycling glass, therefore it is important to recycle glass correctly to avoid contamination.
Producing glass from recycled glass rather than raw materials uses 75% less energy. This is largely due to the much lower production temperature, which conserves energy and oil, and extends the life of the furnace. The energy saved by recycling a single bottle could light a 15-watt low energy light bulb for 24 hours.
How to Recycle Glass at QUT
It is important to recycle glass correctly to maintain the environmental and economic effectiveness of this process by avoiding contamination. Just five grams of heat-treated glass can contaminate one tonne of recyclable bottle and jar glass.
Bottle and Jar Glass: All glass jars and glass bottles are recyclable. This includes beer, wine, soft drink and sauce bottles, as well as all colours of glass - clear, green and amber. These items can be placed in the comingled recycling bins located around the University.
All Other Glass: Heat-treated glass including drinkware, ceramics, plate glass (window panes), oven-proof glass and pyrex cannot be recycled via the recycling services and at this stage is sent to landfill. The melting temperature of heat-treated glass is higher than that of bottle and jar glass. When this is mixed with bottle and jar recycling it can prevent the molten glass extruding properly or it can make the new bottles too brittle to use. Opaque glass, light globes and glass products containing other materials also contaminate recyclable glass. Contaminated batches of recyclable glass are sent to landfill
Laboratory areas and any other areas that generate glass may ask for a glass recycle bin to be placed in their area for this purpose, to obtain this bin or have it serviced contact either gpcleaning@qut.edu.au or kgcleaning@qut.edu.au Technicians should ensure that all glass placed in these bins is clean