Let’s take a harder look at glass. Better still, let’s look through glass. What do you see? Technically glass is said to be a “super-cooled fluid” rather than a “true” solid. However, to the average joe, this doesn’t make a blind bit of difference, it only really matters to students of old windows who need to know that due to the slow flow of glass under the full of gravity makes an old window thicker at the bottom.

The mix for making glass is soda ash, limestone and silica. Silica and limestone are quarry products whereas soda ash is produced in large volumes by the worldwide chemicals industry. All the gathered materials are then melted together at high temperatures to create the various glass types that we use everyday. These glass uses range from glass fibres which are used in windows and windscreens, to bottles and jars.

A huge amount of energy is used in the chain of processes leading to the production of glass items. So recycling glass which can be used to create recycled vases has to be a good thing, right?

Up to a certain point. The sad fact is that most glass used in the products and objects we buy is brand new material. The biggest reason for this is that the majority of manufacturers insist on uniformity and the only feasible way to achieve this is by creating brand new glass

The absolute best thing you can do with old glass products like bottles and jars is to clean them out and re-use them for the original purpose. In the UK, this only takes place with milk bottles which are delivered to houses. Each of these bottles are generally reused around 12 times. The reason why this form of reuse is so successful is because not only do milk bottles get dropped off, but the old ones are also collected. The reasons why other bottles are never reused (at least in the UK) include the unwillingness of major retailers to handle the returns process, the logistical cost of returning imported bottles (think New Zealand wines), and the nervousness of marketers about the integrity of their brand images.

So most bottles are ground down to make a raw material called cullet, which could then be re-melted to form part of glass production. But it isn’t. In fact, the glass that does end up being recycled ends up in aggregate mixtures which are used to make road surfaces. Practially all of the bottles that we do end up recycling and made from brand new glass. Your recycling efforts won’t change that. The reason recycled glass isn’t used to make new glass is because of it’s uncertain composition and exact specifications that are required by glass makers, this makes it impossible to recycle.

Plate glass is an even worse problem. A large amount of glass is used each year for replacing glass windows, particularly in sealed double-glazing units. Ever wondered what happens to the old units? Straight to landfill sites. It is just too difficult, in terms of time and money, to separate the glass from the other materials in the units.

It’s a tough job to find a retailer that actually sells products created from recycled glass. They should be treasured and encouraged because their producers are able to demonstrate that it can be done. So here’s a link to a UK supplier that sells many recycled glass products, including glass tableware such as plates, bowls and wine glasses, as well as colourful recycled glass bathroom accessories such as soap dispensers.