Johannesburg — In a world that is becoming more and more green-oriented, recycling is vital, writes ROXZANNE VAN EYK

ACROSS the board, recycling has far more benefits than simply being able to manufacture new products from what would commonly be considered waste.

From an environmental perspective, significantly less energy, water and other resources are required to recycle materials than to produce new ones.

The act of recycling in SA, specifically the recycling of glass, is not what it should be. At the consumer level, a lack of awareness is often found to be the fundamental problem. A step was taken to address this issue when a memorandum of understanding was signed on May 19, 2005 and The Glass Recycling Company was established.

Although its name may suggest it, the company does not recycle the glass itself. Rather, it is SA's national nonprofit organisation responsible for facilitating the recovery of waste glass for recycling.

This is achieved by creating awareness regarding the importance of protecting the environment.

The Glass Recycling Company has partnered with the government, glass manufacturers (Consol and Nampak Wiegand Glass), fillers (users of glass to package their products), and recyclers, all in its effort to substantially increase the current recycling rate.

Its operations began in July last year, and over the last year it has increased the recovery of glass waste from 148000 tons to more than 183000 tons.

This is an almost 25% growth in recovery on the previous year's figures.

Let me ask you: Do you recycle glass in your home? Although some people do, many homeowners do not.

Shabeer Jhetam, GM responsible for the achievement of all the strategic objectives of the Glass Recycling Company, says that 8% of homeowners nationally recycle properly.

So why is it so important to recycle glass? Jhetam says: "It is important in order to protect the environment and to effect sustainable environmental improvements -- while also creating income-generating opportunities for unemployed individuals and in particular for historically disadvantaged South Africans."

As a country, Jhetam says that SA is lagging in the recycling stakes with just 26% of glass containers produced annually retrieved for recycling.

Glass is an ever-fashionable form of modern packaging. Jhetam says that recent glass-bottle shortages confirm its popularity in the packaging industry.

"Glass is produced through a simple recipe of sand, soda ash and limestone, with a dash of dolomite and a hint of feldspar," he says.

The environmental impact of glass is more translucent than completely clear, but for sure, glass is responsible for a number of negative environmental issues as it is not biodegradable.

However it's not all doom and gloom: glass is 100% recyclable and scrap glass (cullet) is a key production ingredient that is added to the raw materials used to produce glass.

"Some glass manufacturing companies use more than 45% of recycled glass in the manufacture of their products. The obvious message we will continue to promote is to reuse, recover and recycle," says Jhetam.

A momentous amount of glass is not recovered, says Jhetam, as 600000 tons of glass are lost each year.

One of the greatest concerns around the lack of glass recycling is that it ends up in landfills, which not only means that glass is essentially lost, but it has an adverse effect on soil, vegetation and underground water systems.

However, more than just environmentally unfriendly, landfills are also expensive -- Jhetam estimates that it costs R100m to create a landfill.

The obvious issue is that space is becoming more limited on dumping sites, which is why it is so important to divide glass from other waste before it ends up in the landfills. To separate glass waste before it gets to these places is as simple as taking the initiative to drop off one's glass waste at any of the designated "glass banks" provided by The Glass Recycling Company.

Earlier this year the company began placing glass banks at strategic locations throughout the country.

To date, 469 banks have been installed at 339 different sites. A total of 550 more banks will be distributed over the coming months.

Jhetam says that although consumers who take glass to the glass banks are not paid for their recovered glass, payment is made to scrap dealers, entrepreneurs and collectors for their efforts.

The Glass Recycling Company has removed all obstacles to ensure a hassle-free environment for consumers to recycle glass. By way of example, Jhetam says that in Europe there are three different bins for glass waste, whereas in SA consumers do not need to go to all this trouble. "Sorting the colours and washing glass containers prior to banking it, is not, as in some countries, a prerequisite when recycling," he says.