It may not be the best time to start glass recycling.
In the early part of the century, the industry was booming and the number of glass bottles was exploding, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
That led to a sharp rise in the amount of waste and other recyclables produced.
But by the early 2000s, there was a slowdown in the growth of glass production, with glass bottles ending up in landfills and in land-filling plants, according, the EPA’s Glass and Paper Product Safety Task Force.
As a result, the number that are recovered is low, said Amy Krawczyk, the lead author of the report, which was co-authored by former Glass Bottle Recycling Director Jeff Hausler and his wife, Susan.
The EPA said it was unaware of the numbers, and that the report’s authors were not qualified to speak about the topic.
The agency said the goal is to “encourage consumers to take advantage of the recycling opportunities available.”
The report also noted that the EPA had a limited number of recyclable glass bottles.
The report found that the majority of the bottles recovered were from glass that was already used in consumer products.
The average glass bottle is used to make about 10,000 bottles a year.
It is recyclible, the report said, but the process can be laborious and requires a lot of energy.
Some bottles are recycled at glass factories, but most of the glass bottles are sent to landfilling facilities.
And many of the landfiller glass bottles end up in other industries, such as plastics, food packaging and cosmetics.
According to the report: •Glass bottles are the most common recyclers of glass; about half of all recyclability opportunities are glass bottles; •Recyclable bottles have a very high recycling rate of less than 3 percent per year; •Glass bottle waste accounts for about one-fifth of the overall recycling rate; and •Recycle opportunities are limited to glass that is already used as a consumer product.
The U.K.-based glass recycler, Bex, is the only company that produces glass bottles and glass containers that can be reused.
In an email to POLITICO, BEX said it recycles all recycling opportunities to glass bottles, but said that “it is not uncommon for recycling efforts to be scaled back or scaled back dramatically” due to limited space.
Bex said the number and recycling rate is dependent on the product being recycled and the size of the container.
In a statement, a spokesperson said the company “is currently undertaking a large-scale recycling initiative, including the deployment of a large glass recycling bin to be used to recycle glass bottles in new and existing glass facilities.”
The company added that the bin “will be used for recycling glass bottles of any size, shape or color and will be used by both our warehouse partners and customers.”
Glass bottles are recyclably recyclizable and can be used as food packaging.
They can also be recycled into other recycling materials, including cardboard and paper, the statement said.
The recycling industry is still struggling to find ways to get glass out of landfuses and into recycling bins, but that could be a challenge for a company like Bex that has a small footprint.
“There is a lot that is still going on to get our glass bottles out of the landfill,” said Krawczzyk.
The Glass Bottle Recovery Act, which passed in 2013, aims to encourage the recycling of glass and glass packaging by mandating the use of glass recyclizer bins, which the EPA said is a great way to reduce the amount glass bottles that end up on landfounds.
Glass bottles can be recycled at a landfill, recycling facility or a landfill site.
And according to Krawzczzyk, glass bottles can also end up as part of a recycling bin or a glass recycling site.
“Glass bottles can end up recycled into recyclibles, like plastic bags, but they are also being used in landfill applications,” she said.