Glass Crushing...Can It Save The Environment?

Glass recycling is one of the many ways we can help sustain the environment.  Every day, we throw away tons of trash, much of which is plastic and glass.  We hear in the news about the importance of recycling plastic, but glass recycling is not as hot of a topic, yet still equally important. Our landfills are getting consumed with all of our waste and when glass gets thrown in, it no longer becomes just about the environment, but also the safety of the people and animals around.

Just like with recycling plastic, our glass needs to be cleaned before being tossed into the recycling bin.  Once they are recycled, glass can be taken to a recycling plant to be sorted, crushed into cullets (small, broken piece of glass), cleaned and melted down to make new items like drinking glasses, jars, fiberglass insulation, and bottles. 

Here are some environmental facts and benefits about recycling glass:

• Glass can be recycled endlessly with no loss in quality or purity.  
• According to an EPA report, in 2015, 41.9% of glass beer and soft drink bottles, 27.5% of wine and liquor bottles, 15.1% of food jars, and approximately 33.2% of all glass containers were recycled.  In some states, like California, glass bottle recycling reaches over 80%.
• It saves our already scarce raw materials. For every ton of glass recycled, over 1,300 pounds of sand, 410 pounds of soda ash, 380 pounds of limestone, and 160 pounds of feldspar are saved.
• Energy costs drop about 2-3% for every cullet used in the manufacturing process.
• According to the EPA, for every six tons of glass recycled, a ton of carbon dioxide is reduced. With that said, glass produced from recycled glass reduces air pollution by up to 20% and water pollution by up to 50%.
• By using cullets vs whole pieces of glass, manufactures are able to use a lower melting temperature, which saves on energy.
• Glass recycling produces no additional waste like some other products do during the recycling process.
• Recycling glass reduces the space in landfills

Across the US, there are recycling centers set-up with specific bins to collect just the glass that can be recycled, but this requires time and money to make the trip and recycle glass in the proper way.  What if Orwak offered you a way to recycle your glass right there in the convenience of your facility? 

Orwak would like to introduce you to our two new products:  ORWAK BOTTLE BREAKER: MEGA JAWS and ORWAK BOTTLE BREAKER: BABY JAWS . 

The BB04 or ‘Mega Jaws’ is a stand-alone bottle breaker that will generate savings on labor, storage space and on waste glass disposal costs. Simple and safe to use! The cullet is collected in a 32 gal 2 wheeled trash cart inside the machine. The cart holds the equivalent of 680 bottles of broken glass! 

’Mega Jaws’ waste glass bottle breaker is typically used back-of-house, where its durable powder coat finish makes it suitable for use both indoors and outdoors. It reduces waste glass bottle volume by up to 80 % and will break up to 4000 waste glass bottles per hour!

The BB01 or ‘Baby Jaws’ is a low-noise, stand-alone glass bottle breaker that will generate savings on labor, storage space and on waste glass disposal costs. The machine starts automatically as the glass bottles are fed and the broken glass is collected in a box within the machine itself.

Simple and safe to use! ‘Baby Jaws’ is the only under counter bottle breaker of its kind on the market and is developed for the hospitality industry. It allows staff to break the waste glass bottles as they are poured or as the empty bottles are returned from the floor. 

Breaking waste glass bottles eliminates bottle clinking noise pollution (a major problem for hotels), which occurs when tipping empty bottles on collection. It is a very simple, safe and convenient way to handle and dispose of glass bottles. It dramatically reduces the labor cost associated with managing waste bottles, the frequency of glass collections required and the overall waste glass disposal costs for your business.

• Reduces glass disposal costs
• Frees up space otherwise used to store
  empty bottles
• Reduces the workload for staff, no more
  segregating empty glass bottles
• Cullet can be reprocessed into new bottles

For every glass that is recycled, calculate the saving made in raw materials, reduction in disposal cost, and also calculate the benefit to landfills and the environment. Then, apply this calculation to the total amount of glass containers used in your facility.  If you find that your percentage can be reduced, call us about our Mega Jaws Bottler Crusher or our Baby Jaws Bottle Crusher! We are happy to schedule a time with you to answer any questions you may have about our products.