How Does
How Are Glass Bottles Recycled?
Glass Is Sorted and Cleaned
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Disposed glass is sorted by color and cleaned of impurities at a processing plant. The pigments in colored glass, such as the brown in some beer bottles, cannot be removed. Therefore, brown glass will be recycled only into brown glass.
Glass Is Crushed
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The glass is crushed into tiny pieces called cullet.
Cullet Is Mixed
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The cullet is sent to a manufacturing plant, where it is mixed with the raw materials sand, limestone and soda ash.
Cullet Mixture Is Melted
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The cullet mixture is melted in a furnace at temperatures up to 2,800 degrees F.
Glass Is Formed
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The melted mixture is fed into a glass-forming machine where it is molded, air blown and shaped into its new form.
Glass is Cooled
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The new glass is cooled, inspected for imperfections and shipped back into the marketplace.
Fun Fact
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It takes up to one million years for a glass bottle to decompose naturally. This is why it is important to recycle glass.
eHow Article: How Are Glass Bottles Recycled?
