Recycle Glass

This month our focus is on recycling Glass since it's become an issue after the removal of the recycling bins at the Athlumney Centre.

Why have the bins gone?

They were set on fire and destroyed by vandals. Being hidden from sight at the back of the Athlumney Centre car park it should have been an ideal location with easy access. The area has unfortunately attracted regular fly tipping and after the fire it was no longer a safe place.

Despite having been removed the area quickly accumulated hundreds of bottles in bags and boxes.

Are we having new ones?

The Athlumney Centre building was recently bought and if the buildings gain occupants and the area is patrolled then it would be a good location. The bottle banks need to be somewhere that people regularly go to such as the Johnstown Shopping Centre car park.

Where do we go in the meantime?

If you're stuck for glass recycling and your with AES Waste collection then simply phone them to ask for a second FREE blue bin.

The alternative locations are on this google map and if you find more locations then let us know for them to be added.

Interactive Google Map Location

Alternatively Meath Recyling Centres location and information

Why Recycle Glass Bottles?

Glass is 100% recyclable over and over again and therefore valuable.

Despite EU regulation financial profit is always going to be the driving force and main reason they're collected for free. Collect enough in large regular supplies, transport it to the recycling processing plants and there's money to be made.

One bottle bank bin can hold around 3,000 items and we even do the sorting ourselves to make the recycling process easier.

The alternative is landfill where eventually the glass will breakdown into a sand like material but this isn't a viable long term option for our environment.

How much do we generate?

The average family discards 500 glass items per year with glass making up 9% of our waste. Until recently we only recycled 25% of this.

What do they do with glass bottles?

The glass has any metal lids or plastic tops removed before being crushed into small pieces called cullet.

This is transported to the glass factory where it is mixed with sand, limestone and soda ash in a furnace.

Molten glass is then moulded in to new jars and bottles.

The entire process from your kitchen shelf, through the recycle process and back on your kitchen shelf can be completed in under 3 months.

Where does this happen?

Generally 75% of Ireland's recyclables leave the country since we do not have the capability to either recycle them or use them in industry such as steel mills or paper pulp factories.

Ireland however has a thriving Glass recycling business with over a dozen glass manufacturers.

Why can't they simply refill bottles?

This use to be the case for most bottles of fizzy drinks and they even offered money back deposits of a few pence if you returned them to a shop. This stopped when they started using plastic bottles.

Now many of our glass containers originate from overseas suppliers so it's not feasible to sort through and identify them for individual return. There's no standard bottle type in use which would be a better idea for reuse rather than destruction.