Genuine "Recycling," also known as 360 degree, closed loop, or simply "real recycling," is a seven-step process:
1. DISPOSAL - is placing waste glass in a bin, "Glass-Only" dumpster or other specified container for collection and transfer into the recycling stream. Disposal is what you the consumer, or businesses that generate sizable quantities of waste glass, do with their glass. But alone it's not "recycling."
2. COLLECTION - is what the waste collection or recycling company does when it picks up the glass with its trucks. They're commonly called "haulers."
3. TRANSPORT - is the hauling of very large quantities of collected bottles to either a glass storage warehouse, or directly to a glass processing plant.
4. PROCESSING - is what happens to the glass after it's collected. Processing is done in a large processing facility that pulverizes, crushes, washes, agitates, filters and sorts the glass to make it useable for another purpose. Until recently, most has been processed to create "cullet," a grade of crushed glass used principally to make new bottles and containers. Some is now destined to be processed into a finer grade to replace ever scarcer sand in the manufacture of construction concrete. As the world's silica sand runs out, more cullet will likely be processed for use by the fracking industry. GlassLand supplies a full range of glass-sand products to meet the needs of every kind of buyer. BUT... we exist to process for use by two principal industries: Recreation and coastal restoration. We do not sell glass proppant for fracking.
5. RESALE – occurs when the new products are sold to end-users like playground contractors, blasting facilities, golf courses, sandbag suppliers - many more.
6. DELIVERY - is packaging and shipping the re-constituted glass to its buyer or end-user in a grade and package suitable for its intended use. Coastal restoration products will be shipped by vessel to restore wetlands, resurface beaches and rebuild protective barriers and dunes. The vessel of choice is a Hoverbarge™capable of delivering 90 tons of processed glass per delivery.)
7. REUSE - Only when the processed glass has been incorporated into a new product or disbursed at a restoration site can it be said to have been genuinely “recycled."
8. "4W" sand - is sand formed over aeons from rock and stone exposed to Water, Wind, Waves and Weather. a/k/a "natural" sand.
Interesting facts about glass, sand and recycling - updated regularly - with links to original material. DID YOU KNOW?
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