Energy implications of glass-container recycling
- Argonne National Lab., IL (United States)
This report addresses the question of whether glass-container recycling actually saves energy. Glass-container production in 1991 was 10{sup 7} tons, with cullet making up about 30% of the input to manufacture. Two-thirds of the cullet is postconsumer waste; the remainder is in-house scrap (rejects). Most of the glass recycled is made into new containers. Total primary energy consumption includes direct process-energy use by the industry (adjusted to account for the efficiency of fuel production) plus fuel and raw-material transportation and production energies; the grand total for 1991 is estimated to be about 168 {times} 10{sup 12} Btu. The total primary energy use decreases as the percent of glass recycled rises, but the maximum energy saved is only about 13%. If distance to the landfill is kept fixed and that to the recovery facility multiplied by about eight, to 100 mi, a break-even point is reached, and recycling saves no energy. Previous work has shown that to save energy when using glass bottles, reuse is the clear choice. Recycling of glass does not save much energy or valuable raw material and does not reduce air or water pollution significantly. The most important impacts are the small reduction of waste sent to the landfill and increased production rates at glass plants.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-83CH10093; W-31109-ENG-38
- OSTI ID:
- 10161731
- Report Number(s):
- ANL/ESD-18; NREL/TP-430-5703; ON: DE94000288; BR: WM1020000; TRN: AHC29414%%62
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: Mar 1994
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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