On 2 July, the Glass for Europe team visited the GRL Glass Recycling & Logistics plant in Beringen to discuss flat glass recycling ahead of the adoption of the Circular Economy Act.
The Glass for Europe team spent an afternoon at the GRL Beringen plant, thanks to the European Federation of Glass Recyclers (FERVER), who organised the visit. The visit provided an opportunity to observe first-hand how flat glass recycling works in practice, as well as to engage in dialogue with the Secretary General and President of FERVER. Glass for Europe explained the focus on closed loop recycling, a priority for the flat glass industry.
With only 5% of post-consumer flat glass currently being recycled, there is a huge opportunity to increase the amount of high-quality flat glass available for recycling. To achieve this, it is essential to ensure that the glass remains clean and uncontaminated throughout the entire value chain, from careful dismantling and sorting to transportation to recycling facilities.
Once properly treated, recycled flat glass can be reintroduced into the manufacturing batch, helping reduce both energy consumption and CO2 emissions from flat glass manufacturing.
The upcoming legislative proposal, the Circular Economy Act, represents an important opportunity to strengthen glass circularity notably through:
- Pre-demolition audits which enable effective recovery and identify both the quantity and quality of recoverable flat glass. Such audits could also cover major renovations and refurbishment works
- Much stricter rules on landfilling recyclable flat glass
- Efficient rules for the transportation of pre-consumer cullet granted by the by-product status
More details about the challenges of recycling building flat glass into flat glass can be found here. The Glass for Europe team thanks again FERVER and GRL for organising such an insightful visit.
