If it’s the ENERGY SAVINGS FROM RECYCLING GLASS or the POSITIVE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT of recycling glass it is just smart to do.

In today’s disposable culture, some things will always endure, home, family, and building now for generations to come. Infinite Recycled Glass Technologies team will continue to develop and adapt new processes to further our future.

Closing a part of the recycling loop ultimately lessens our dependence fossil fuels and the mining of natural minerals from the earth. Together with our customers, corporate partners and friends, we can all help bring the awareness to light so we all can leave the planet cleaner, greener and healthier for generations to come. Recycling glass saves other resources in addition to landfill space. For example, every ton of glass recycled saves 1330 pounds of sand, 433 pounds of soda, 433 pounds of limestone, and 151 pounds of feldspar that would be needed to create new glass. In addition, recycling just one glass bottle saves enough energy from the manufacturing process to light a 100-watt bulb for four hours.

4% of all glass gets recycled and 20% of the glass that gets collected still gets landfilled and recycleable glass makes up as much as 26% of landfills.

• One recycled light bulb saves enough energy to light a room using a 100-watt bulb for up to four hours.
• The energy saved by recycling one glass bottle can provide power to a television for up to 20 minutes.
• Recycling one light bulb can save enough energy to run a computer for 30 minutes.
• Enough energy can be saved to power a computer for roughly 50 minutes when two bottles are recycled.
• By recycling 10 bottles a week, enough energy is saved to light a CFL bulb for 200 hours.
• Using crushed recycled glass to make new products saves energy because it melts at lower temperatures.
• Air pollution is reduced by as much as 20 percent courtesy of glass recycling.
• Recycling a bottle reduces water pollution by 50 percent.
• A glass bottle in a landfill will take roughly a million years to break down and decompose.
• One ton of recycled glass saves approximately a ton of resources, including 433 pounds of soda ash, 433 pounds of limestone, 1,330 pounds of sand, and 151 pounds of feldspar.
• Recycling glass also reduces environmental problems such as acid rain and pollution.
• Recycling one ton of glass prevents the release of 7.5 pounds of air pollutants.
• By recycling one ton of glass, 2 cubic yards of landfill space are conserved.
• Every 10 pounds of recycled glass reduces carbon emissions by almost one pound.
• As much as 384 pounds of mining waste is created when new glass is made using raw materials.
• Mining waste is reduced by 80 percent when glass is recycled.
• Glass bottles and jars are 100 percent recyclable.
• Glass food and beverage containers can be recycled repeatedly without losing their quality.
• Thirteen million glass jars are recycled daily in the United States.
• Colored glass bottles and food jars are recyclable.
• The U.S. throws away enough glass to fill a skyscraper every month.
• It takes approximately 30 days for glass products to be recycled and put back on shelves as a new glass product for sale.
• In some recycled products, up to 95 percent of the raw materials are replaced by recycled glass.
• During the recycling process, clean glass is crushed to create a material called cullet.
• Approximately 27 percent of glass that’s used in the U.S. is recycled.
• Parents can teach their kids to recycle glass and other materials by using educational recycling games, lesson plans, experiments, and videos.
• Glass can be both reused and recycled
• Glass is 100% recyclable and can be recycled endlessly without loss in quality or purity.
• Glass is made from readily-available domestic materials, such as sand, soda ash, limestone and “cullet,” the industry term for furnace-ready recycled glass.
• The only material used in greater volumes than cullet is sand. These materials are mixed, or “batched,” heated to a temperature of 2600 to 2800 degrees Fahrenheit and molded into the desired shape.
• Recycled glass can be substituted for up to 95% of raw materials.
• Manufacturers benefit from recycling in several ways: Recycled glass reduces emissions and consumption of raw materials, extends the life of plant equipment, such as furnaces, and saves energy.
• Recycled glass containers are always needed because glass manufacturers require high-quality recycled container glass to meet market demands for new glass containers.
• Recycled glass is always part of the recipe for glass, and the more that is used, the greater the decrease in energy used in the furnace. This makes using recycled glass profitable in the long run, lowering costs for glass container manufacturers—and benefiting the environment.
• Glass containers for food and beverages are 100% recyclable, but not with other types of glass. Other kinds of glass, like windows, ovenware, Pyrex, crystal, etc. are manufactured through a different process. If these materials are introduced into the glass container manufacturing process, they can cause production problems and defective containers.
• Furnace-ready cullet must also be free of contaminants such as metals, ceramics, gravel, stones, etc.
• Over a ton of natural resources are saved for every ton of glass recycled.
• Energy costs drop about 2-3% for every 10% cullet used in the manufacturing process.
• One ton of carbon dioxide is reduced for every six tons of recycled container glass used in the manufacturing process.
• Glass bottles have been reduced in weight approximately 40% over the past 30 years.
• Recycled glass is substituted for up to 95% of raw materials.
• Manufacturers benefit from recycling in several ways—it reduces emissions and consumption of raw materials, extends the life of plant equipment, such as furnaces, and saves energy.
• An estimated 80% of all glass containers recovered for recycling are remelted in furnaces, and used in the manufacture of new glass containers.  Source, Strategic Materials, Inc.
• Recycling 1,000 tons of glass creates slightly over 8 jobs. (Source: 2011 Container Recycling Institute).

Some recycled glass containers are not able to be used in the manufacture of new glass bottles and jars or to make fiberglass. This may be because there is too much contamination or the recycled glass pieces are too small to meet manufacturing specifications. Or, it may be that there is not a nearby market for bottle-to-bottle recycling. This recovered glass is then used for non-container glass products. These “secondary” uses for recycled container glass can include tile, filtration, sand blasting, concrete pavements and parking lots.