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Why we recycle glass
Recycling is one of the most important means utilized to improve the state of our environment. Recycling glass is especially useful due to the short time it takes to re-use it for new items at the stores. To put the above into perspective, in the ground it would take up to a million years for glass to break down but to get it from the recycle bin to the store shelf as a brand new product would take less than a month.
Recycled glass has no quality loss.
Glass can be completely recycled over and over again, without quality loss which in turn makes it exceptionally useful for recycling purposes. A typical example of a resource we do not have to waste.
Recycled glass is efficient.
Recycled glass makes up for more than 70% of all new glass products available in stores. According to studies by organizations of the industry 80% of all used glass ends up as new items at the stores.
Recycled glass preserves resources.
Recycled glass conserves resources required in order to create glass products like sand and limestone. In fact it takes more resources to produce new glass than to use recycled glass.
Using recycled glass preserves energy.
In order to recycle glass, the collected glass is pulverized resulting in a substance called "cullet". Using this product to produce "new glass” requires 40% less energy than it would take to produce new glass out of raw materials.
Glass is a natural product created only from natural resources. Therefore it almost never reacts to the contents that are put in it, making it a very safe product used to store almost anything that can be used and re-used again and again. Because of the many uses of glass, the recycling of it is one of our best weapons against polluting our environment.
Recycling glass is very easy due to city and nationwide recycling programs. There even are recycling centers where you can dispose of all your used glass products. In order to recycle glass all one needs to do is carry it to the glass recycling bin and drop it in there. This is a small effort to make, for so much gain.
In case more incentives are required in order to get people to start recycling glass, most states in the US offer cash for returning used glass products which over time add up nicely and can be used for all kinds of purposes.
In conclusion, there is no real reason not to start recycling your used glass products. There are only advantages to gain and little to no extra effort is required from the consumer. A little time to collect and deliver it to the appropriate location is a very small price to pay for such high results.
subsections under this page will include:
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climate_change |
global warming. Scientific analysis and figures of climate change. |
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conservation |
conservation projects, methods and facts |
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ecology |
protecting global biodiversity, from rain forests to the oceans. Ecology issues |
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