Glass can be infinitely recycled, which massively reduces the carbon impact of bottle manufacturing when old glass is reused instead of virgin material. However, not every used bottle can be cost-effectively recycled for making new bottles due to contamination. But that doesn’t mean it has to go to waste. Companies such as DB Breweries in New Zealand are working with recycling firms to turn contaminated bottles into sand.
The ‘DB Export beer bottle sand’ can be used in construction and road building, as well as for home DIY use and applications such as golf bunkers. It is also being used to help make bagged concrete mix, reducing the CO2 impact of that product. At a time when the construction industry is booming in countries such as China, meaning an increasing demand for sand, coupled with the fact that two-thirds of the world’s beaches are retreating, the likes of DB Breweries’ bottle pulverising machine could be an environmental solution if replicated by others.
The company’s project in New Zealand alone is stopping 60,000 tons of contaminated glass from going to landfill annually, while cutting out the need for sand to be sourced from the country’s beaches. And if demand for this product grows, the brewer hopes to be able to roll out more of the machines.
Turning glass bottles back into sand is actually catching on as a standard practice in the hospitality sector, as a solution to dealing with non-returnable bottle waste, and there are several companies that provide conveniently sized glass crushing machines so that operations both big and small can turn their bottles into sand.
further reading…
Glass can be infinitely recycled, which massively reduces the carbon impact of bottle manufacturing when old glass is reused instead of virgin material. However, not every used bottle can be cost-effectively recycled for making new bottles due to contamination. But that doesn’t mean it has to go to waste. Companies such as DB Breweries in New Zealand are working with recycling firms to turn contaminated bottles into sand.
The ‘DB Export beer bottle sand’ can be used in construction and road building, as well as for home DIY use and applications such as golf bunkers. It is also being used to help make bagged concrete mix, reducing the CO2 impact of that product. At a time when the construction industry is booming in countries such as China, meaning an increasing demand for sand, coupled with the fact that two-thirds of the world’s beaches are retreating, the likes of DB Breweries’ bottle pulverising machine could be an environmental solution if replicated by others.
The company’s project in New Zealand alone is stopping 60,000 tons of contaminated glass from going to landfill annually, while cutting out the need for sand to be sourced from the country’s beaches. And if demand for this product grows, the brewer hopes to be able to roll out more of the machines.
Turning glass bottles back into sand is actually catching on as a standard practice in the hospitality sector, as a solution to dealing with non-returnable bottle waste, and there are several companies that provide conveniently sized glass crushing machines so that operations both big and small can turn their bottles into sand.