Advice On Glass Bottles

STIG83

Im doing a clean up at the moment on a place that was used over the years to dump glass bottles, dont worry its on my father's farm.
Its beer and wine bottles etc. Im after gathering up a pile already and they are filthy inside and out covered in muck and random crap, should i give them a quick wash before bringing to the bottle bank? or bring them as they are?

Macha

STIG83 wrote: »

Im doing a clean up at the moment on a place that was used over the years to dump glass bottles, dont worry its on my father's farm.
Its beer and wine bottles etc. Im after gathering up a pile already and they are filthy inside and out covered in muck and random crap, should i give them a quick wash before bringing to the bottle bank? or bring them as they are?

I'd say give them a hose down before hand. No need for them to be spotless though.

Check if you have to separate them by colour at the bring centre - it'll save you doing it on the spot.

STIG83

Thanks for the advice Macha, ill have them in seperate bags, Clear, green and brown when i bring them to the bottle bank, there is a seperate one for each colour.
Could you tell me where the bottles go when they are picked up? are they exported or recycled in Ireland? Have always wondered.

Macha

STIG83 wrote: »

Thanks for the advice Macha, ill have them in seperate bags, Clear, green and brown when i bring them to the bottle bank, there is a seperate one for each colour.
Could you tell me where the bottles go when they are picked up? are they exported or recycled in Ireland? Have always wondered.

The EPA's latest National Waste Report (data from 2009) reveals all:

-In 2009, Ireland recycled 75.8% of glass packaging or 118,456 tonnes.

-88.8% of Ireland's recovered glass, representing 106,988 was sent abroad for recycling. 70% of this goes to the UK and 30% goes to the Netherlands. Despite myths to the contrary, Ireland's recovery streams are well documented in relation to recycling and we know that the glass sent abroad is recovered (not including waste-to-energy recovery).

-The remaining 11.2% or 13,507 tonnes is recycled in Ireland.

http://epa.ie/downloads/pubs/waste/stats/EPA_NWR_09_web.pdf

reverenddave

why not build a glass wall



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STIG83

^ That's impressive!!
Some of the bottles i found must be years old, big glass bottles of Mi Wadi orange, ones of coke, Ginger Ale, Cidona.

Pete_Cavan

STIG83 wrote: »

Could you tell me where the bottles go when they are picked up? are they exported or recycled in Ireland? Have always wondered.

Crushed glass has many uses you might not expect, inlcuding use as a base in road construction and in football pitches! Heres a bit more on the roads.

STIG83

Thanks again for the advice everyone.

edwinkane

STIG83 wrote: »

Im doing a clean up at the moment on a place that was used over the years to dump glass bottles, dont worry its on my father's farm.
Its beer and wine bottles etc. Im after gathering up a pile already and they are filthy inside and out covered in muck and random crap, should i give them a quick wash before bringing to the bottle bank? or bring them as they are?

Why not offer them to someone who is laying a foundation for a building? Glass makes a great bulker for a concrete foundation.

mufcboy1999

why not make a glass tiger or even better a glass dolphin? great for the enviroment and tigers and dolphins

STIG83

edwinkane wrote: »

Why not offer them to someone who is laying a foundation for a building? Glass makes a great bulker for a concrete foundation.

I cant think of anyone building at the moment, thanks for the advice though.

edwinkane

STIG83 wrote: »

I cant think of anyone building at the moment, thanks for the advice though.

Thats a pity as it would also save you the horrendous job of having to wash them, to say nothing of the waste of water and time that would involve!

STIG83

edwinkane wrote: »

Thats a pity as it would also save you the horrendous job of having to wash them, to say nothing of the waste of water and time that would involve!

I dont mind doing it, have a lot done already gives me something to do been out of work.

slowburner

I'm in the process of making decorative gravel out of my waste glass because I believe that if I can reuse at home - it's better. Sometimes I wonder about the real merits of recycling: there's the fossil fuel cost in transporting the recyclables to and from the centres/depots. Then there's all the water that must be used and probably contaminated. And there must be huge energy costs involved in the relevant processing operations. For my operation, the only energy cost will be an hour or so for the crushed (by hand) glass in the cement mixer. And the only water used comes from the roof.
For sure, not everyone has the facilities to process or reuse their own waste but there's lots of scope for creative thought here. Just look again at Reverenddave's post above.

Oldtree

Some percentages for you below, which I believe roughly show the merits of recycling, but I agree that we have to be wary about both the transport costs and pollution from that when evaluating the merits of recycling. I also agree that if we can reuse something at home, that is the best starting point in recycling.
REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE is a great calling cry, in that order.

Glass produced from recycled glass reduces related air pollution by 20% and related water pollution by 50%

See here:

http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/teacher_resources/project_ideas/recycling_glass/

To be recycled, glass is first crushed into 'cullet'. Compared to making new glass, 40% less energy is consumed when starting with cullet. because it melts at a lower temperature

and here:

http://www.wastecare.com/Articles/Glass_Recycling.htm

Capt'n Midnight

Oldtree wrote: »

Compared to making new glass, 40% less energy is consumed when starting with cullet. because it melts at a lower temperature

I don't think there has been a glass making operation within living memory that didn't use some recycled glass to start the furnaces

Oldtree

I sit corrected you cheeky chappy. I thought I was pedantic! :cool:
I think the sentance may have been referring to the amount of cullett used

slowburner

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

I don't think there has been a glass making operation within living memory that didn't use some recycled glass to start the furnaces

I'm confused. Oldtree's post made sense to my little brain