By actively making glass recycling part of every-day life, it can help with the fight against climate change.

The Glass Recycling Company (TGRC) has taken the time to encourage every South African to continue doing their part for the environment.

“We encourage everyone to keep making green choices, even during these uncertain times, as even the smallest green act makes a difference to the environment. Whilst we are social distancing and taking the rest of mankind into consideration, we too should be taking the environment into consideration to ensure that there is a green future for generations to come,” explains CEO of The Glass Recycling Company, Shabeer Jhetam.

One of the main contributors to climate change and global warming is CO2 emissions, with methane gas being the second largest contributor. An effective way of helping combat climate change, while enabling economic opportunities, is through recycling.

Some benefits of glass recycling include:

Recycling saves energy

Making glass from raw materials or for the first time compared to making it from a recycled glass bottle or jar uses more energy. One of the biggest benefits when it comes to recycling glass is the reduced use of energy. When you compare the energy used in the production of glass from raw materials to the use of recycled glass, the melting of cullet (recycled glass that is crushed and melted), you will find that the required energy is considerably less. The less energy used results in a decrease in CO2 emissions.

It reduces pollution

Glass produced from recycled glass bottles or jars reduces related air pollution by 20% and related water pollution by 50%.

Recycling glass saves space in landfills

By recycling glass, you help reduce the space being utilised within landfills, which would have been taken up by glass bottles and jars if these were not recycled. Glass is inert and does not release any CO2 but reducing the constant flow of various materials, helps to reduce the generation of greenhouse gasses. Methane is an example of a greenhouse gas. There is no causal relationship between glass lying in landfill and greenhouse gasses. In turn this has a positive impact on climate change.

Recycling conserves natural resources

For every ton of recycled glass used in the manufacturing of new glass packaging, 1.2 tons of non-renewable natural resources are saved. Glass is infinitely recyclable and can be recycled endlessly while maintaining quality.