Recycling Glass

Genghis

I am sure many of you have either made or intend to make the seasonal trip to the bottle bank, whereupon you will duly sort your bottles by colour and deposit in the correct bin, etc.

Just after doing this last weekend I came across large containers under a hotel, where they had recycled their glass. However, I noticed that glass of all sorts were mixed together, no colour separation at all.

So why are consumers (who might contribute 10% of all collected recycled glass) asked to seperate their glass, when the licensing industry (who are majority recyclers) don't have to.

Not that I mind, just curious, 's all.

Capt'n Midnight

mixers in pubs usually come in brown or green bottles (ie. cheapest possible glass) ??

Genghis

Cap'n, I thought there might've been something along those lines - for example, perhaps all glass bottles in pubs are coloured with something that can later be easily washed out.

However, the bottles I seen in this pile were:

a) of several different colours, blues, greens, plains, browns
b) piled together and broken down to maximise the crate size (crate belonged to some Dublin recycling company) and
c) were identical to those I had just brought to the bottle bank - green beer bottles, clear alcopop bottles, brown wine bottle, etc.

There was a time not so long ago when it was in the economic interest of pubs and the drinks industry to partake in true recycling - i.e. return and re-use bottles.

Gordon

Why not ask the Dublin City Recycler people?

Capt'n Midnight

Originally posted by Genghis
There was a time not so long ago when it was in the economic interest of pubs and the drinks industry to partake in true recycling - i.e. return and re-use bottles.

Well they probably charge the punter 10 times the cost price for soft drinks in bottles so it's more meanness than economic necessity.