50% Recycled Content Goal

Glass Packaging Institute member companies set a goal in December 2008 to use at least 50% recycled glass, or cullet, in the manufacture of new glass bottles and jars by 2013.

GPI estimates energy savings from using 50% recycled content in all glass packages manufactured in the U.S. could save enough energy to power over 45,000 households for a year and remove 181,550 tons of waste from landfills every month. In addition, realizing this goal will encourage closed-loop recycling, save raw materials, reduce CO2 emissions, and reduce overall costs.

Learn more about how the glass industry is working toward this ambitious goal:

Reaching the Goal

To help achieve 50% recycled content, the glass container industry is engaged in the following:

Support single-stream curbside recycling best practices.

On average, 40% of glass from single-stream collection gets recycled into new glass containers, while another 40% ends up in landfills, according to a 2009 Container Recycling Institute study. In contrast, mixed glass from dual-stream systems yields an average of 90% being recycled into containers and fiberglass. Get collection best practices

Expand dual-stream curbside collection and drop-off.

Research in the cities of City of Fort Collins and Loveland, CO and Larimer County, CO found that the glass capture rates for single-stream recycling may only reach 30%; it’s almost 100% for drop-off recycling.

Expand on-premise collection programs.

In 2008, NC passed a law requiring all Alcohol Beverage Permit holders to recycle their beverage containers. Since then, an additional 57,000 tons of new glass bottles have been recovered for recycling through bars, restaurants, and hotels. Find out more about on-premise programs across the U.S.

Improve beneficiation technologies.

New technologies, such as those that optically sort glass, are increasingly being added at cullet processing facilities.

Encourage consumer glass recycling.

Since 2008, the Glass Packaging Institute has sponsored Recycle Glass Week, creating consumer awareness around glass recycling and boosting new glass recycling initiatives.

Build on current deposit programs.

States with bottle bills have an average glass container recycling rate of just over 63%, according to the Container Recycling Institute.

Accelerate support of legislative initiatives

that encourage on-premise recycling and improved best practices for community recycling.

Model Initiatives

In May 2009, Saint-Gobain Containers partnered with glass processor eCullet in Seattle, WA to boost glass recycling and recycled content in wine bottles. Using recycled glass bottles collected from the City of Seattle’s curbside program and the Vancouver, BC bottle deposit program, Saint-Gobain Containers has doubled the amount of recycled glass—from 17% to 35%—in the manufacture of new glass wine bottles, with the potential to increase this amount in the future. And eCullet, an independent facility, is located on space leased from SGCI near their manufacturing plant, so this makes for an exceptional carbon footprint. Get more details