A study carried out by Glass Technology Services on behalf of the UK“s Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), Leeds University Psychology Department and Sainsbury“s, found that consumers are j…
A study carried out by Glass Technology Services on behalf of the UK“s Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), Leeds University Psychology Department and Sainsbury“s, found that consumers are just as likely to buy products in jars and bottles made from mixed colour recycled glass as they are to buy items in clear glass packaging. According to a WRAP spokesperson: The research should boost demand for containers with high recycled content. It could stimulate a market within the container glass industry for green cullet (broken glass for recycling) which means more of the mixed glass cullet already collected is diverted away from landfill and low value end uses such as aggregates which do not deliver the CO2 savings. But, one ton of cullet used for remanufacture, instead of virgin raw materials, provides a CO2 saving of 315kg. At present, clear (flint) glass accounts for 64% of the demand for recycled cullet from UK container glass manufacturers, with amber 20% and green only 16%. The result of this scenario is that the UK has become a net importer of green glass much of which is currently going into secondary markets such as aggregates, said the spokesperson. WRAP“s director of market development, Marcus Gover, said: This study should give retailers the confidence to use more recycled glass in their products – in the knowledge that it will not adversely affect sales. This is good news for the recycling industry as it could help to stimulate a high value market for mixed colour recycled glass in the UK. This in turn may provide the impetus to divert more of this glass away from landfill and secondary markets and into closed loop recycling. Paula Chin, Sainsbury“s grocery packaging technologist, supported Gover“s view: Ultimately it“s all about getting the customer offer right and if our customers are interested, we are interested, she said. The positive results from this small-scale study would give Sainsbury“s the confidence to explore further the opportunity to use recycled glass containers. WRAP is taking part in a tender for a large-scale trial to manufacture containers with mixed colour recycled glass content of over 90%, which would deliver at least 18,000t of carbon dioxide reduction. The target is to consume at least 30,000t of mixed colour recycled glass which would otherwise be destined for landfill or secondary markets. Meanwhile, the marketing promotion Choose Glass Week has begun, with a series of events staged across Europe – in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain and UK – to promote the environmental benefits of glass, according to the European Container Glass Federation.