Stanislas  Emsens  

     

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 “To what extent is the recycling of glass becoming significant in the

development of green energies in Europe? Comparative analysis between the UK and other European countries”.

Dissertation in partial fulfillment for a BA in International Business (with Spanish) by: Stanislas S. Emsens (S00500375) Supervisor: Marcelo Paulucci Word Count Body: 10347 (Including Headings etc.) Date Of Submission: 1st May 2015

I declare this is my own unaided work ____________________ Stanislas S. Emsens

 

 

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I. Acknowledgments “Marcelo  Paulucci”    I would like to thank Marcelo, my supervisor, for guiding and supporting me

throughout the creation of this dissertation.

“Michael Oyelere”

I would like to show my appreciation to Michael for the several meeting he took with

me in order to show me the right pathways that where necessary.

“Jacques Emsens”

A special thanks to my father for the guidance he gave me through the creation of this

dissertation.

“Christian Deltenre“

This dissertation would have not been possible without the help of Christian. He’s

knowledge and contacts proved to be crucial to the development of this research

paper. A great amount of his time was sacrificed to help me, therefore an exceptional

thank you is in order.

“My Friends”

The biggest thank you of all goes to my friends, who have supported and pushed me

through those difficult times. All this could not have been accomplished without

them.

 

 

 

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II. Confidentiality

This dissertation was made to obtain a degree. This research paper is solely for the

purpose of the examiner marking this paper for Regent’s University as well as my

supervisor Marcelo Paulucci. The content of this dissertation are as a consequence

strictly confidential. Thus, the content of this paper can under circumstance be

published or distributed.

Confidential information means that the content of the dissertation will under any

circumstance not be shared with anyone else then the people mentioned above.

Unless, the author, gives a written permission the parties agree that:

• All information will be kept strictly confidential

• The content of this dissertation will remain solely in the property of Regents

University and the author

• The dissertation will only be used for the purpose of the partial fulfillment for the

degree of BA International Business by the author

• The University solely has this dissertation for marking purposes

 

 

 

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III. Table of Contents

I.  Acknowledgments  ..........................................................................................................  2  

II.  Confidentiality  ...............................................................................................................  3  

III.  Table  Of  Contents  …………………………………………………………………………………4  

IV.  List  of  Tables  and  Figures  .........................................................................................  7  

V.  Abbreviations  .................................................................................................................  8  

VI.  Vocabulary  .....................................................................................................................  9  

VII.  Abstract  ......................................................................................................................  10  

Chapter  1  –  Introduction  ..............................................................................................  11  

1.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 11

1.2 Aims and Objectives ........................................................................................ 13

1.3 Methods ............................................................................................................. 14

1.4 Significance of the study .................................................................................. 14

1.5 Limitations ........................................................................................................ 14

Chapter  2  -­‐  Literature  Review  ....................................................................................  15  

2.1 Introduction to Literature Review ................................................................. 15

2.2 Sources of energy ............................................................................................. 15

2.3 What is “Green energy” and “Green powers” .............................................. 16

2.4 Reasons behind the increased concern in the environment ......................... 17

2.7 Reasons why governments are pushing people to recycle ............................ 18

2.8 Glass manufacturing from raw materials process ........................................ 19

2.9 The glass recycling process ............................................................................. 20

2.10 Problems of Glass recycling (UK) ................................................................ 23

2.10 Households in the and their Recycling (UK) ............................................... 24

2.11 Conclusion of Literature review ................................................................... 24

Chapter  3  -­‐  Methodology  ..............................................................................................  25  

3.1 Introduction to methodology .......................................................................... 25

3.2 Research Philosophy ........................................................................................ 27

 

 

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3.3 Research Approach .......................................................................................... 28

3.4 Research Strategy ............................................................................................ 28

3.4.1 Questionnaires ............................................................................................. 29

3.4.2 Analysis....................................................................................................... 31

3.5 Types of Data .................................................................................................... 32

3.6 Limitations of Study ........................................................................................ 33

Chapter  4  -­‐  Findings  and  Discussion  of  Findings  .................................................  34  

4.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 34

4.2 Data Presentation ............................................................................................. 34

4.3 The evolution of Glass recycling so far .......................................................... 36

4.4 Current status of glass recycling in the European Union ............................ 37

4.5 Are subsidies a necessary government incentive to boost Industry ............ 38

4.6 The factors affecting companies to recycle glass ........................................... 39

4.7 What has made the growth in glass recycling possible ................................. 40

4.8. The European Union v the UKs recycling rates ........................................... 41

4.9 The purpose of glass recycling? ...................................................................... 42

2.10 The future of glass recycling ......................................................................... 43

Chapter  5  –  Conclusion  .................................................................................................  45  

5.1 Introduction to Conclusion ............................................................................. 45

5.2 Reuse and Recycling of glass culets ................................................................ 45

5.3 Environmental benefits of recycling glass ..................................................... 46

5.4 The Growth of Glass Recycling ...................................................................... 47

Chapter  6  -­‐  Bibliography  ..............................................................................................  49  

6.1 Academic Journals ........................................................................................... 49

6.2 Books ................................................................................................................. 51

6.3 Government Publication ................................................................................. 51

6.4 Magazines ......................................................................................................... 51

6.5 Reports .............................................................................................................. 51

6.6 Websites ............................................................................................................ 52

Chapter  7  -­‐  Appendices  .................................................................................................  54  

7.1 Questionnaire Introduction Page ................................................................... 54

7.2 Candidates for Questionnaires ....................................................................... 55

 

 

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7.3 Questionnaire Questions Sample .................................................................... 55

7.4 Questionnaire 1 ................................................................................................ 57

7.5 Questionnaire 2 ................................................................................................ 61

7.6 Questionnaire 3 ................................................................................................ 65

7.7 Questionnaire 4 ................................................................................................ 68

7.8 Questionnaire 5 ................................................................................................ 72

7.9 Questionnaire 6 ................................................................................................ 75

7.10 Appendix 1 – Recycling amounts (Tones) of wastes ................................... 79

7.11 Appendix 2 – Waste Management Percentage ............................................ 79

7.12 Appendix 3 – Job creation through recycling ............................................. 80

7.13 Appendix 4 - Composition of waste of average household ......................... 80

7.14 Appendix 5 – Opinion of Glass Recycling in the UK .................................. 81

7.15 Appendix 6 - Europe Glass Recycling Rates ............................................... 81

 

 

 

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IV. List of Tables and Figures    Figure 1 - Manufacturing process (Flat Glass) ............................................................ 20

Figure 2 - Glass Recycling Process ............................................................................. 21

Figure 3 - Lifecycle of glass as filtration media .......................................................... 22

Figure 4 - a) Mixed coloured glas on Kerbside collection b) Commercial glass

Collection ............................................................................................................. 23

Figure 5 - Research Onion ........................................................................................... 27

Figure 6 - Types of Questionnaires .............................................................................. 29

Figure 7 - Years of Experience of Candidates ............................................................. 35

Figure 8 - Illustration of Energy Saved Due to Reuse of Glass Culets ........................ 47

Figure 9 - Evolution of Glass Recycled In Europe ...................................................... 48

Table 1 - Qualitative v Quantitative Methods .............................................................. 32

Table 2 - Candidates Job Titles .................................................................................... 36

 

 

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V. Abbreviations  

- PET: Polyethylene terephthalate

- ILSR: Institute for Local Self reliance

- MRF: Material Recycling Facility

 

 

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VI. Vocabulary  

- Culet: Scraps of broken or waste glass gathered for re-melting, especially with

new material.

- Polyethylene terephthalate: Is a thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester

family and is used in synthetic fibers; beverage, food and other liquid

containers

- Green Powers: Green powers are sources of renewable energies

- Green Energies: Green Energies are Green powers and other types of energy

that are environmentally friendly. (E.g. recycling)

- Container Glass: Group of glass, green, brown and yellow glass can all be

referred to as types of container glass.

- Flat Glass: Is the material that goes into a variety of end products including

windows and facades for buildings, windscreens and windows for transport,

and solar panels, but also in much lower quantities in many other applications

such as furniture, electronics, etc.

- Flint Glass: Is optical glass that has relatively high refractive index and low

Abbe number (high dispersion)

- Kerbside Collection: The collection of wastes outside your doorstep, hence the

name.

- Commercial Collection System: When the government are hiring third parties

to collect the waste from the streets. (On top of the normal waste collectors)

 

 

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VII. Abstract  This dissertation has as an aim to explore the various factors that are driving the

evolution and growth of glass recycling. The growth of the industry thus far, has been

different for all of the countries within the European Union. The literature argues that

factors such as education, subsidies and legislations were the main limitations of

growth in the glass recycling industry. But even with those vast amounts of

limitations, the industry still managed to grow drastically over the past 40 years.

Therefore, the research will look at what the future of the glass recycling industry will

be once the previously limitations will have been dealt with. This project will be

created and concluded on the hand of its comparison of the collected secondary

research with the primary research. The primary data has been gathered by the help of

6 professionals with a large amount of experience of the glass recycling. The primary

research concluded that the earth would keep growing. Meaning that current

population will expand and grow and as a consequence more production will be

needed. The data collected determined that this could become a problem. Firstly, the

chance that energy prices will rise over the next 20 years is very much likely.

Secondly, the amount of raw materials available to produce glass will shrink. These

two factors validate the fact that glass recycling will become a vital green energy in

the future. Apart from that the research also brought to light arguments such as that

Glass will become too expensive and that therefore the market will use towards the

consumption of PET.

 

 

 

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Chapter 1 – Introduction

1.1 Introduction

Sustainability has become a key role for man, corporations and the future human

growth on earth. Therefore, issues to tackle are factors like the natural environment,

pollution and global warming. Today, there are over 30 kinds of waste affecting the

environment, and it is paramount to be addressed accordingly. In this dissertation will

focus on one of the ways to handle this through recycling. Indeed, recycling is an

important concept as it is a process to change used materials into new materials or

products, in order to prevent the waste of materials, which would benefit the good of

the planet. As will be explained further in this dissertation, recycling could not only

reduce the consumption of raw materials but also reduce energy consumption such as

fossil fuels, lower CO2 emissions and cut the usage of landfill sites. Recycling has

always been encouraged however, in the past 15 years governments and in particular

green political parties are pushing through new policies, have increased pressure on

society to be more environmentally friendly and aware. Over the past decade there

have been great strides made on the recycling front, these changes can be seen in

appendix 1.

In Europe the amount of recycling varies significantly from country to country

(Appendix 2) and it is arguable that the variable amounts are affected by social and

economical factors, which directly affect the behavior of the population. When

looking at recycling in the UK, there is an estimate that each household throws away

just over a ton of waste on a yearly basis. For every ton of products bought another

ten tons is used to produce it. When looking at these figures, it should be noted that

70% of the waste could be recycled or composted. Although the majority of the UK

population is regarding recycling as a worthless and tiresome process and

consequently only 14.5% of household waste is recycled or composted. (Defra, 2005).

 

 

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Without a doubt recycling and its waste management programmes will be beneficial

not only to the sustainability of the planet but it will also provide society with the

following benefits:

• It will provide new job opportunities and training

• Collecting recyclable materials and re-using them will avoid disposal costs and

Landfill Tax.

• The income from recycling and reuse of raw materials can help reduce the

collection costs for the governments.

• Recycling and re-using will help towards being more ecological and

environmentally friendly.

• Through being more environmentally friendly, carbon savings will be made.

• The benefits from being more socially responsible do no have to affect just one

part of the government but the impacts can be shared across departments.

• Recycling and re-usage of materials will help provide the less fortunate with

appliances and furniture.

After discussing how crucial and important recycling has become, emphasis will be

put on the recycling of glass. Glass today is playing a large role in numerous activities

of people’s lives, ranging from packaging, vehicles, glazing, electrical equipment and

houseware. Apart from being a factor in our daily lives, glass has proven to be a

crucial material towards the development of new technologies and science. However

glass is nothing new to the world, glass is one of the oldest manmade materials. There

is evidence that the production of glass started in ancient Egypt dating to 3000 BC

(Farlane, 2002). The recycling of glass is also an activity which has been carried out

for many years, Emmins (1991), stated that the recycling of reuse glass has been

happening since the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, although large-scale

recycling only started in the 1970’s. Glass is an easily recyclable material, in that it

can be collected, cleaned and re-used. Furthermore, it can be re-melted and reformed

into the same article or moreover, into new products. Another option would be mixing

it with other materials to be used in cement or construction of roads.

 

 

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A problem with glass was that, landfill was the only method to dispose of waste for

countless Centuries and more recently numerous ethical concerns have appeared and

as a consequence governments have started to take drastic action and cut dependency

on landfill sites through recycling programs. Secondly in order to create glass, fusions

of various minerals such as sand where needed. Again the governments noticed that

one day, the earth might run out of minerals and therefore the importance of recycling

and reutilization will have to become more and more important.

 

1.2 Aims and Objectives

This research project will aim to analyze the futuristic importance of glass recycling

in Europe. In order to answer this question, the researcher will start by making the

readers understand the importance of recycling as a whole. Once this explained the

aim will be to compare countries that are more advanced in glass recycling (such as

Belgium, Netherland, etc.) with countries that are less efficient (such as the UK). This

comparative analysis will allow the readers to understand how various countries are

performing and why they are over- or under performing. It is also important that the

readers understand the glass manufacturing and glass recycling processes. To finalize

the research project, the findings, but more specifically the conclusion will evaluate

how important the future of this industry will be. In order to achieve the aims and

objectives of this dissertation, the researcher will have to focus on the following

points:

• An in depth on why recycling has become increasingly important

• What initiatives are governments undertaking in order to improve recycling

o What policies and regulations have they set up in order to do so

• What the recycling targets are, and how countries are dealing with them.

• The importance of glass recycling and its environmental impact

• Analyze the expertise of candidates through the use of questionnaire

• How other people see the development of this green power

• Where this industry is going towards

 

 

 

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1.3 Methods  Research will be conducted using as a first qualitative primary data collected through

postal questionnaires to relevant companies and candidates. A variety of secondary

resources will be used such as academic journals, books, government publications,

magazines and reports. These sources will be compared and contrasted in order to

give a critical evaluation of the research question.

 

1.4 Significance of the study  I anticipate that this project will enlighten me further on glass recycling in the

European Union today. Furthermore an insight into the importance of the glass

recycling industry and the impact towards sustainability it can have. Finally, the main

aim of this project, for me, is to not only convince myself, but the reader as well, that

as my research question states, the recycling of glass will become a crucial factor in

the futuristic development of this world.

1.5 Limitations  The creation of this research paper proved to be more difficult than expected. As a

first, this was due to the reason that the subject chosen was somewhat unknown to the

people surrounding me. When starting the Literature, so in other words the secondary

research, it proved to be more difficult then imagined too. Limited information on

glass recycling was found, most information used and processed came from company

websites and governmental reports. Even though this made my data extremely

reliable, it meant that there was less to argue about when it came down to the findings

and discussion chapter.

 

 

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Chapter 2 - Literature Review  

2.1 Introduction to Literature Review  As mentioned in the introduction, being environmentally aware and recycling has

become a priority for everyone, as it is the only way forward to sustainability.

2.2 Sources of energy    Currently,   the   sources   of   energy   used   to   generate   electricity   differ,   some   in  

having  more  harmful   impact  on  the  environment.   In  Europe,  electricity   is  most  

frequently   generated   through   the   use   of   fossil   or   nuclear   fuels,   these   fuels   are  

and  always  will  be  very  detrimental  to  the  environment  and  human  health.  This  

is   due   to   emissions   in   which   these   fuels   release   creating   environmental  

problems.   Even   though   there   have   been   countless   projects   towards   the  

improvement  of  pollution  control,  the  use  of  fossil  and  nuclear  fuels  are  still  the  

largest   source   of   air   pollution   up   to   present   date.   Today   there   are   various  

markets,  which  offer  ways  of  producing  energy  in  a  cleaner  more  efficient  way.  

This  gives  the  energy  consumer  a  choice  of  using  the  more  frequently  used  green  

powers  or  green  energies.  (European  Environment  Agency,  2013)    

 

 

 

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2.3 What is “Green energy” and “Green powers”    The word Green power is used in various ways, in the sense that it refers to the use of

not only environmentally preferable energy but also the use of energy technologies

such as electric and thermal energy. This definition of Green power contains different

types of power, from solar energy to fuel cells for automobiles, to wind turbines

(Green-e.org, 2015). When referring to Green power, it can be concluded that it is a

way of generating electricity, by using a variation of renewable resources. These

resources can vary from geothermal, biomass, solar, biogas and wind energies. These

resources have a never-ending life span, or at least recover over a short periods of

time.

Natural resources used to create Green energies include the wind, sun, organic plants,

moving water and waste materials, the heat of the earth also known as geothermal

heat can also be considered as a natural resource (O’Connor, 2010).

It has to be kept in mind that the use of renewable energies, clean powers and green

powers may vary marginally. These variations come down the fact that every

environmentally preferable energies or powers impact the earth in various ways.

(Green-e.org, 2015)

The way to differentiate Green powers with Green energies is fairly simple, Green

powers; as mentioned above is the creation of energy threw the use of renewable

energies (e.g. Wind, sun and biomass) Whilst Green energies, includes the green

powers, it also includes other ways to reduce energy consumption, CO2 emissions and

the consumption of raw materials. (e.g. Glass, plastic and other waste materials used

to generate energy or to reduce energy consumption) (Green-e.org, 2015)

 

 

 

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2.4 Reasons behind the increased concern in the environment  

Due to a number of reasons there has been an increase in concern towards the social

responsibility of society, and as a result there have been incentives in the use of green

energies in general. Firstly, One of the reasons is the negative environmental impacts

which comes from production processes have (Azzone & Noci, 1998). Examples of

companies with high pollution in their production process are mostly electrical, coal,

gas and energy production companies such as “Duke Energy”, “Southern”, “Amaren”,

“Electrabel”, amongst many others (Yarow, 2009).

Secondly, there has been an increase in pressure on enterprises from society to use

green energies to help towards the environmental future. Due to the increased

pressure from society the governments, are having to update the legal demands that

the European Union are constantly setting upon enterprises for example; the EU is

forcing companies to collect and reuse many of their products, obligating large

companies to use solar panels, and other Green powers (Murphy & Poist, 2003).

Another reason for enterprises to pay more attention to their social responsibility is

the fact that it gives an increased value to their image or brand (Van Hoek, 1999).

Lastly, consumers and companies have changed their preferences, today each are

looking for products, which are more ecological and socially responsible. As a result

of this, manufacturers and suppliers have had to modify their products and their

product placement upon the market (Lampe & Gazda, 1995 & Bloemhof-Ruwaard et

al., 1995). Therefore, when looking at new regulations enforced on companies and the

fact that one of them, is the reuse and collection of products, means that recycling is

seen as an important factor by governments. Their aim could therefore be considered

as a strategic environmental view, a strategy to revalue products that have already

been used before by a consumer, or in other words to extend the life cycle of that

product.

 

 

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Indeed, there are many ways to revitalize a product, such as, reprocessing, renovation,

repair, cannibalization, reutilizing or recycling it (Martijn et al. 1995). All these ways

of revitalization means returning the products to their former state, therefore you can

call this process a reverse logistics chain (Fleischmann et al., 2000). This process is

not easy, the relationship between consumer and companies will change, instead of

just selling a product, companies will need to collaborate with their clientele, with the

goal of recuperating, recycling, reutilizing, and so on when at the reaching the end of

their life (Azzone & Noci, 1998).

From this you can conclude that there is an increased amount pressure on companies

to be more socially responsible. This paper analyses the reasons why recycling, but

more specifically glass recycling could become an important factor in the future.

2.7 Reasons why governments are pushing people to recycle  

There are several reasons why governments are pushing forward recycling, but only

the five most crucial ones will be mentioned next. To start with, recycling will create

jobs and strengthen the economy. The Institute for Local Self Reliance (ILSR)

investigated the numbers of jobs potentially available through recycling. It came to a

conclusion that ten times more jobs were needed for the recycling of one ton of waste,

compared to the amount of jobs needed for landfill (Ilsr.org, 2014). When looking at

appendix 3 it can be noted that recycling programs have really influenced job creation

in the UK (Ray Georgeson Resources Ltd & Friends of the Earth Ltd, 2010). On top

of that, through recycling, large amounts of energy will be saved.

Today, one of the main goals of many governments is to incorporate new Green

powers and Green energies in order to stop dependency on fossil fuels and therefore

leading to the sustainability of the planet. As mentioned earlier, fossil fuels release

bad toxins which pollute the air and harmful both to the human body and the

environment. “Tyskeng and Finnveden” argued that through the hand of recycling big

amounts of energy would be saved. Most of the energy saved would be associated

with its manufacturing process (Tyskeng and Finnveden, 2010).

 

 

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The third reason is a very obvious one, but often neglected. Recycling will help in the

prevention of soil, water, and air pollution. The following point is very closely linked

to the previous one, apart from preventing the pollution of water, soil, and air

pollution, indeed if recycling is done adequately, less natural resources will be used.

The natural resources such as land, minerals, plants and water are being used

extensively and recycling will therefore allow these resources to be used more then

once. Consequently helping to reduce the amounts of natural resources consumed

(Thormark, 2001).

As a last point, recycling allows the reduction in the amount of landfill, today. In

Europe, the production of waste is increasing on a yearly basis. There has however

been major improvements in that area, but more need to be made, it is therefore

crucial to try and recycle as much as possible in order to reduce this environmental

problem (Marsh & Garnham, 1996).

After reading this it is fair to say that recycling is critical, as it will not only help the

environment but also people. Its importance is endless and it is an industry which

will have to keep developing and growing in order to keep this planet turning, as

mentioned by the “NRDC”.

2.8 Glass manufacturing from raw materials process  As previously mentioned this paper will focus on the study of a recyclable material,

more specifically glass. Glass is created by the fusion of natural resources, therefore,

forms part of nature itself. Glass, is endlessly recyclable, it is like no other product. In

order to better understand the benefits of glass recycling and why it is rapidly

becoming a more recognizable green power, it is crucial to understand its

manufacturing process. Even though recycled glass has already been manufactured

once before, it is critical to understand its manufacturing process in order to identify

the embodied energy that is within the glass. Indeed the main process of glass

recycling is to try and recover as much energy as possible. The raw materials which

are used for the production of glass are soda ash, sand, limestone and a trace of

dolomite and feldspar. These are then mixed and melted at a temperature of 1600

degrees Celsius, and then through a controlled cooling of approximately 200 degrees

Celsius glass is formed. (Figure 1)

 

 

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Figure  1  -­‐  Manufacturing  process  (Flat  Glass)  

Source: British Glass, 2014

On the other hand production of green, yellow and brown glass, also referred to as

container glass is created in ovens with the same temperature but is then poured into

moulds such as bottles and jars. So in the production of glass the melting process is

where most energy is consumed resulting in two tons of CO2 being released for each

ton of glass produced (British Glass, 2014).

2.9 The glass recycling process    Apart from saving energy in the recycling process of glass there can also be major

sustainable implications in the glass recycling process. Consequently it is important to

understand the lifecycle of recycled glass. The lifecycle of glass is fairly complex,

and it is often mentioned as ‘cradle to grave’, which is from its production to last

disposal. Cradle to grave is also referred to, when talking about the factors which

affect the process of glass recycling upon the environment, such as solid waste

creation, consumption of energy and raw materials and pollution to air and water.

When stating the Glass recycling lifecycle, British Glass (2003) sais that glass

recycling forms part of the life cycle of glass that starts from the extraction of the raw

 

 

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materials to processing, glass manufacture, distribution and packaging, product use,

recycling and re-use. In figure 2, a summary of the current glass recycling lifecycle is

produced.

Figure  2  -­‐  Glass  Recycling  Process  

 

Source: British Glass, 2003

Glass is recycled through two main points, the first is ‘kerbside’ collection which is

outside the door, and the second is the ‘bring system’, which means taking recyclables

to bottle banks. A commercial system (Where a third party is hired by the

government) can be a third option, but it is calculated that the collection system is

more appropriate, less expensive and contributes more to the recycling system. Figure

8 shows you an example of the main recycling schemes in the UK.

 

 

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Figure  3  -­‐  Lifecycle  of  glass  as  filtration  media  

Source: Wrap, 2006

When analyzing the collection of glass, it is fair to say that it is easier and less time

consuming to collect at drop off locations. The glass collected through the bring

system is often just a mixture of all types of glass, rarely it includes other waste such

as food, cardboard, paper, etc. So it is easy to say that this type of collection process

decreases environmental burdens. The collected glass taken from bottle banks goes

either to bulking or is taken straight to the processing plant. Whilst the glass kerbside

collection in the UK contains food, cardboard, paper, etc. (Figure 4) Unfortunately the

UK lags behind many other European countries in the recuperation of glass. For

instance in Belgium, different coloured bags are used for waste, and then they are

collected by different waste collectors. Recycled glass has to go to a material

recycling facility (MRF) plant, firstly to be separated from other waste and then

followed by a separation of colour. This stage can be seen on figure 3. Once the glass

has been sorted it will be taken to a transfer point where it will be taken directly to a

manufacturer, depending on the use of the glass.

 

 

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Figure  4  -­‐  a)  Mixed  coloured  glas  on  Kerbside  collection  b)  Commercial  glass  Collection  

Source: British Glass, 2003

2.10 Problems of Glass recycling (UK)    The UK has two major problems when it comes to glass recycling. First, its rate of

recycling should be much higher (Appendix 6). Secondly, the glass, which has been

collected, is often mixed with a large variety of other materials (figure 4). This means

that the glass needs to go to very technologically advanced plants in order to be

separated from the other waste materials (British Glass, 2003). The plants in the UK

are modern enough to be able to do this for container glass, but they are unable to

recycle flat glass (white glass), it therefore needs to be sent to more advanced plants,

which are only available in countries such as Germany, Holland and Belgium. These

aforementioned countries have high recycling rates, consequently are generating more

turnover, hence more advanced plants (Berryman, 2013). Today the current pathways

of recycled glass require;

• Transportation of the collected glass to the MRF facilities

• Reprocessing of glass

• The transportation of the end product to the end markets

All of these steps have an actual and potential impact on the environment too. These

environmental impacts include air quality, noise, energy consumption, water quality

and land use (British Glass, 2005).  

 

 

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2.10 Households in the and their Recycling (UK)  When looking at households and businesses in the UK, they generate around 100

million tons of waste annually, of which 3.6 million tons of it is glass. The EC

Packaging and Waste Directive have put regulations and demands that the UK glass

recycling industry had to achieve a recycling target of 73.5% by 2010 (Defra, 2005).

Yet it only managed to recycle 1.1 million tons, which is not at all close to the

demanded targets. With a total usage of 3.6 million tons of glass, the rate of recycling

would be at only 32%, which has been more or less the case for the past 5 years in the

UK (Wasteonline, 2005). When looking at the UK recycling rates it is easy to

conclude that it is far behind the average European rates as shown in Appendix 6.

Bragg (2013) undertook a study with the help of various surveys in order to try and

figure out why the UK was struggling with the glass recycling. She concluded, that

this came down to two factors, as a first, poor government recycling initiatives.

Secondly a lack of education during the informative years played a crucial role and

moreover the fact that 50% of people believe that even if they recycled the glass, it

would still end up in landfill (Bragg, 2013).

 

2.11 Conclusion of Literature review  From the above information, it has become clear that everyone, as either an individual

or as a company will need increase their environmental awareness and act

accordingly. Today, an increased amount of people are working towards a more

sustainable future. Governments are enforcing rules and regulations in order too

ensure that individuals and companies adhere to the increased use of Green energies

and provide incentives to take on board renewable energies. However, as has been

seen countries such as the UK are lacking initiative when it comes to recycling in

general and in particular to the recycling of glass. Without recycling there will still be

reliance upon raw materials, which are exhaustible and therefore threaten the

existence of mankind. As stated today one of the largest problems is air pollution

through the release of fuels, the emission of CO2 and the exaggerated use of energy.

Glass manufacturing produced large of CO2 and consumes a lot of energy and

therefore, the recycling of glass is crucial as it consumes much less of the

 

 

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aforementioned. Indeed, increasing recycling measures can solve environmental

problems, but some countries argue that they have reached their maximum potential

recycling rates. And many countries, such as the UK have failed miserably, in

attaining targets. When considering companies, if recycle increases, profits will and

as a consequence new investments in technologies will help to increase the amount of

glass recycled. This can be linked to the UK as it currently lacks the advanced plants

to recycle flat Glass and therefore it needs to be shipped to other countries to be

processed.

 

Chapter 3 - Methodology  

3.1 Introduction to methodology  In the previous chapter, the literature review, was critically analyzed in order to

understand how to achieve a sustainable future. The main methods on how to tackle

the current environmental problems, such as pollution, energy consumption, and the

lack of recycling were discussed. The research was carried out in order to have an

overall view of sustainability.

The purpose of this chapter, the methodology, is to provide an outlined approach of

how to collect the researched data in a way that answers the dissertation research

question adequately. In other words, the task of a methodology is to expose and

explain research assumptions as far and as attainably as possible. The project will be

looking at identifying the methods and methodologies employed in the conduction of

the research, which will answer the project’s central question.

 

This chapter will be structured in the following way; the Introduction to the

methodology will show what has been done in the previous chapter, the goal of this

chapter and a brief explanation of what methodology means. The Research

Approach will outline what different philosophies need to be considered, whilst

analyzing the data for this project. The Research Strategy will be divided into the

tree parts that where used to collect primary data, as a first why Questionnaires were

 

 

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used, followed by how the Snowball Sampling Effect helped with the collection of

primary data, and to conclude and analysis on the questionnaires. Then different

types of Data will be analyzed in order to give a wider range of sources. Following

this, the ethical concerns will take a quick look at ethics and why they are important.

The Limitations will describe the problems, which have been faced during the said

project and finally a Conclusion will close the project.

 

When talking about ‘Methods’ tools and techniques used to collect and analyze data

are focused on, this is mainly for data such as interviews and surveys, linking this to

qualitative and quantitative research. Both research methods will be used, but at the

end, the data collected will be based more precisely on the quantitative parts. When

talking about the ‘methodologies’ there is an increased focused on how something is

carried out, and how knowledge is acquired. When comparing it to the ‘methods’ the

methods are focused on the various techniques and the ‘methodology’ focuses on why

one used those particular techniques and not others.

Summarized, as Berg (2009) said, a Methodology is a study and description of

methods. This chapter of Methodology will be based and built with reference to

Saunders’ et al., (2012) ‘research onion’, which will give a clear guide and show the

vital aspects of the research as can be seen on Figure 5.

 

 

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Figure  5  -­‐  Research  Onion  

 

Source: Saunders et al., 2012

 

3.2 Research Philosophy  When writing a research of this kind, it is crucial to consider the various research

philosophies. Ontology and epistemology are two matters which are crucial, as these

describe assumptions, beliefs, perceptions and the reality and truth. They influence

the way a dissertation project like this is undertaken, from the design of the project all

the way to the conclusion. This is why it is important to discuss and understand these

characteristics, terms and concepts of the research philosophy. (Saunders et al., 2012)

Saunders et al. (2012) explains that there are four main types of philosophies that

could be applied when research is undertaken; Realism, positivism, pragmatism and

interpretivism. This research will mainly be formed through the use of realism but it

can be assumed that a certain level of Interpretivism will be used, as it cannot be

neglected, due to the fact that it is necessary to analyze the collected data. Realism

means that there is a certain truth about the existing problem, attitude or practice, the

 

 

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researcher needs to show that he has accepted the situation and has to deal with it

responsibly. Interpretivism will be crucial as well as it is related to the interests and

values of the researcher. Krapp (1999) mentioned, that when a person has a high level

of interest in a particular domain, he will have increased motivation. Pragmatism and

Positivism are not useful in the research as, pragmatism has had problems with

leaving out valid information, due to the fact that the information had not brought

enough success at certain times. While, positivism only focuses on scientific methods

that has no leeway and only allows mathematical of logical proof.

3.3 Research Approach

When keeping in mind the Saunders’ research onion, the second layer focuses on the

process of collection. According to the research onion this process is divided in to,

two approaches, the inductive and deductive part. An inductive approach is closely

linked with a variation of theories, these theories are grounded upon the outcome of

various interpretations and tests. Whereas, a deductive approach is also based around

theories, the deductive approach uses already existent theories to confirm other

theories. (Saunders et al., 2009) Both these approaches will have to be kept in mind

during the collection of data in this paper.

3.4 Research Strategy  Saunders et al. (2009, pp600) defined research strategy as “the general plan of how

the researcher will go about answering the research questions”. Bryman (2008,

pp698) identified research strategy as “a general orientation to the conduct of

research”. And according to Remenyi et al (2003), it provides the overall direction of

the research including the process by which the research is conducted.

The first step, when carrying out research, is to look at the already existing literature

and theories. Once the existing literature and theories have been critically analyzed,

models need to be contacted to gain greater knowledge, such models can vary from

individuals who have no knowledge about the researched industry to people who have

over the years experienced and gained a vast amount of knowledge in the field. Ways

of collection could vary from surveys, interviews, questionnaires to statistical

analysis. (Saunders et al., 2009)  

 

 

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3.4.1 Questionnaires  The term ‘questionnaire’ has been used in different ways. Some practitioners reserve

the term exclusively for self-administered and postal questionnaires, while others

include interview schedules (administered, face-to-face or by telephone) under the

general rubric of ‘questionnaires’. In a different way the word ‘questionnaires’ is

sometimes used to distinguish a set of questions, including perhaps open-ended ones,

from more rigidly constructed scales or tests (Oppenheim, 1996). Questionnaires tend

to be used for more descriptive or explanatory research. Descriptive research will be

using the attitude and opinion of participants, as this enables them to describe and

identify different phenomena’s. Whilst explanatory research will be more focused on

allowing the researcher to gain information in order to examine cause-and-effect

relationships. The main advantages of using questionnaires are:

• Low cost of data collection

• Low cost of processing

• Avoidance of interview bias

• Ability to reach respondents who live at widely dispersed addresses or even

abroad.

These advantages were important in the decision making process of the source of data

collection. In Figure 6 it can be see that the researcher has a wide range of

questionnaires to choose from, knowing which one will suit each need, as a

researcher, can sometimes be perplexing.

Figure  6  -­‐  Types  of  Questionnaires  

 

 Source: Saunders et al., 2012

 

 

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 The decision was taken to use self-administered questionnaires and use the postal

method, more specifically; via email. This is due to the fact that the audience trying to

be reached where overseas. This method also allowed the researcher to send out

questionnaires to large recycling firms and some governments. The researcher

originally wanted to use interviews but after profound research found that interviews

were time-consuming and expensive to conduct and to process. Reaching a wide and

dispersed amount of people would be more complicated by the use of interviews than

sending out questionnaires. Therefore, the decision was to go ahead and use

questionnaires as, in a way, an interviewer would still be present when responding. It

was also concluded that the respondents might interact with the given questionnaires

and therefore respond as specifically as they would do in an interview (Oppenheim,

1996)

   A crucial factor, which needs to be thought of before sending out the questionnaires,

is the layout and design. In this case the design was built on the basis of Oppenheim’s

book on ‘questionnaire design’ (1996). The following factors were kept in mind when

creating the questionnaire:

• Explanation of selection

• Confidentiality

• Reminders

• Anonymity

• Appearance

• Length

• The topic and the degree of interest of the respondent

 

 

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3.4.1.1 The Snowball Sampling Effect

Snowball sampling is a non-probability sampling method, this method relies on the

acquaintances’ of your own acquaintances. Meaning, that this method is often used

when aiming at a specific target of people. In this case, the aim was at people who

have been in the glass-recycling sector for numerous years. One or two contacts were

established beforehand but the researcher relied on these contact to communicate with

their own acquaintances (Sedgwick, 2013). The snowball effect allowed the

researcher to reach a wider population and therefore gain greater knowledge within

the glass recycling industry.

 

3.4.2 Analysis  In order to fully answer the research question, it is crucial to use the responses given

in the questionnaires. This is due to the fact that there is limited information and

theories available about what the future of the researched industry holds. Once the

questionnaire’s data has been collected and analyzed, recommendations and theories

based on the responses of various people working in that industry will have to be put

in place. As the responses will come from a range of people, industry specialists, it is

important to merge some of the gathered information. Due to the fact that some

respondents are specified in the recycling industry and others in the glass creation and

cleaning processes.

 

 

 

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3.5 Types of Data  There are two types of data, qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative research can be

defined as, a research method to gain and the understanding of opinions or facts. But

qualitative data does not measure the various attributes, assets or characteristics.

Therefore, in some ways it could help develop the quantitative research. ‘’Qualitative

data collection methods emerged after it has become known that traditional

quantitative data collection methods were unable to express human feelings and

emotions’’ (Davidson, 2007) Whilst quantitative research can be defined as data

which can be checked, and it is often based on numbers and charts; statistical

information. ‘’The collection of numerical data and exhibiting the view of

relationship between theory and research as deductive, a predilection for natural

science approach, and as having an objectivist conception of social reality’’ (Bryman

& Bell, 2007, p.154). In a way a differentiation of the two can be explained by saying

that qualitative data describes, whilst quantitative data defines, as can be seen in

figure 7. Table  1  -­‐  Qualitative  v  Quantitative  Methods  

Qualitative Methods Quantitative Methods

• Emphasis on understanding • Emphasis on testing and

verification

• Focus on understanding from

respondent’s point of view

• Focus on facts and/or reasons

for social events

• Interpretation and rational

approach

• Logical and critical approach

• Explorative orientated • Hypothetical-deductive; focus

on hypothesis testing

• Holistic perspective • Particularistic and analytical

• Observations and

measurements in natural

settings

• Controlled measurement

• Process orientated • Result orientated

Source: Reichardt and Cook (1979)

 

 

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In the case of this report, qualitative data will be collected online. This is due to the

fact that the easiest way to get qualitative data is through surveys. Unfortunately,

surveys cannot be carried out by the researcher, as people filling in the surveys would

need knowledge on the topic, which only people in the field have. But many studies

have been done in the past and they will be of great use in the development of this

report. On the other, hand quantitative data will be collected with the use of

questionnaires. The results of the quantitative data will not give the researcher

directions but most of the arguments in the following chapter, the discussion chapter,

will stem from these results. Furthermore having in-depth answers from specialized

people will allow a better understanding of the issues at hand of environment today.

3.6 Limitations of Study  I believe that this subject has faced limitations when it came to data collection. When

collecting primary data, the limitation of for this project could be the amount

participants. Although having a good range of contacts, getting the correct

information may be hard. In this case the main participants would be; people working

in glass recycling companies; governments pushing through recycling programs.

Indeed this range of contacts can be hard to reach.

When looking at the limitations for secondary data collection, it will be difficult, as a

limited amount of books have been written about the recycling of glass. Which only

leaves the researcher to work mainly websites, news articles, government publications

and a academic journals. Even so the amount of academic journals are limited due to

the fact that it is industry where development is currently happening, but where future

uncertainty reigns. Most secondary data used will come from academic journals,

which had been written by a wide range of governmental programs. The main issue

therefore, is that the content of those journals will mainly consist of statistics rather

then rather explanations.

 

 

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Chapter 4 - Findings and Discussion of Findings

4.1 Introduction  In this chapter a critical analysis will be evaluated on the research question on the

hand of the gathered information. Evans, Gruba and Zobel, in their book “How to

Write a Better Thesis”, describe the finding and discussion chapter as the place where

you: “critically examine your findings in the light of the previous state of the subject

as outlined in the background, and make judgments as to what has been learnt in your

work”. Therefore, this chapter will give me the opportunity to present, analyze and

discuss the gathered primary and secondary data. This chapter will provide a detailed

presentation of facts and date that have been gathered by the use of the research

methodology. To do this clear links to research question, literature review and

presents arguments will have to be made. The primary and secondary data collected

will not only be presented in an adequate way, but also cross-referenced with the

literature review. It is important not to mystify the secondary data with the literature

review, the secondary data includes all the collected information during the research

process. The primary data presented will be derived from the questionnaires that are

attached in the Appendices section. (Chapter 7)

4.2 Data Presentation

As mentioned in the methodology the data gathered in order to conduct this chapter

was done by the hand of questionnaires. A total of 6 questionnaires where answered

by experienced people within the glass recycling industry. The researched found, that

when selecting the appropriate people to answer the questionnaires, experience and

position within a firm where two main factors to consider. When looking at the people

who have taken the time to answer the questionnaires, together they accumulate for

81 years of experience in the glass recycling industry, as can be seen in Figure 8

 

 

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Figure 7 - Years of Experience of Candidates

Source: the author, 2015

From the above-mentioned data, it can be concluded that all candidates have a vast

amount of experience. This experience is the key towards developing a well-

formatted discussion and findings section. The glass recycling industry is an industry

that has evolved drastically over the last 20 years, being able to collect data from

candidates that have seen those changes personally will benefit the credibility of this

dissertation. Apart from experience the candidates offer, it is also important to

mention the diversity of jobs within the candidates, as can be seen in appendix...

Every job within the glass recycling industry sees different things and will therefore

have different approaches on the questions asked within the questionnaire.

 

 

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Table 2 - Candidates Job Titles

Candidates Job Title

Candidate 1 General Manager (Minérale and High 5)

Candidate 2 Head Of Glass Recycling (Sibelco)

Candidate 3 General Secretary (Verver)

Candidate 4 Comercial & Marketing Director (Sibelco)

Candidate 5 Retired CFO

Candidate 6 Head Of Manufacturing

Source: The author

Those two factors will be crucial when developing the arguments within the findings.

As a first, certainty can be made that the received information is reliable. Secondly it

can also be assumed that a wide range of diversified answers will be given.

4.3 The evolution of Glass recycling so far  

As Martin and Mac Farlane (2002) mentioned, the recycling of glass has been

happening since 3000 BC, this was due to the fact that the creation process of glass

bottles was much more complicated and time-demanding. When comparing it to

today, uncountable amounts of glass bottles are created all over the world on a daily

basis. For years, the used bottles where used as landfill and the consideration of

recycling them was limited. As Baccani (2015) mentioned in questionnaire 2, the

inhabitants on this earth will keep growing in numbers, as a result more and more raw

materials will be consumed. Raw materials are not endless, it will therefore become

imperative to recycle. When comparing the secondary data with the primary data

collected, Candidate 5 (2015) referred in questionnaire 5 that the Swiss where the first

to attempt large scale glass recycling in 1994. The reasons for them attempting this

rather then others was a reaction to the fact that they had scarce amounts of raw

materials to produce the glass and high transportation costs to import manufactured

glass. The first attempts to recycle glass, as Delterne (2015) explained in

questionnaire 1, consisted of putting waste on a conveyor belt and remove the glass

manually. Grün, a German company, were the first to push the creation of a well-

 

 

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organized collection method in order to improve the German recycling rates. When

looking at the recycling rates today, a direct link can be made with the improved

technologies. Before, the Kerbside collected waste, had to be manually separated.

This led that only 10 % of the glass waste was recycled. Today through the improved

technologies, up to 90% of glass waste can be recycled. Next to the improved

technologies, the improved collection methods also allowed the industry to evolve

promptly.

 

4.4 Current status of glass recycling in the European Union    The European commission has set very clear targets for its members to achieve in a

certain period of time. Each country in particular has its individual glass-recycling

targets that suit their profile. As mentioned in questionnaire 2 by Baccani (2015),

West European countries are more advanced then the East and Mediterranean Europe.

The West are pushing towards the reduction of energy and mineral consumption

whilst East and Mediterranean need to improve their waste collection in order to

improve those targets. Previously mentioned in the Literature, the UK had set targets

to recycle 73% of their glass consumption by 2010, which it failed to achieve. These

targets were very closely linked with the European ones. Ska (2015) mentioned in

questionnaire 3 that if all EU-members would apply the packaging recycling rules

everyone would eventually achieve their set targets. But as mentioned in both the

Literature review and the primary data some, most of the countries lack initiatives and

as a result are behind their targets. Candidate 5 (2015) confirmed the secondary data

with mentioning that the UK is far behind the rest of Europe. The literature argued

that the UK had not achieved those targets due to reasons such as bad waste

collection, people not knowing where their waste was going and most people

presumed their recycled glass would just be used as landfill anyways. When

comparing this to the primary data, Candidate 5 (2015) argued that this is a result of

the glass industry being very concentrated in East Europe. Secondly, Deltenre and

candidate 6 (2015) both pointed out that countries such as Belgium and the

Netherlands are highly populated countries that are currently recycling at maximum

levels due to highly effective and profitable recycling routes. Even though primary

 

 

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and secondary data are arguing different points, they both come to the conclusion that

countries are not delivering the required outcome of their recycling targets.

 

4.5 Are subsidies a necessary government incentive to boost Industry    When looking at government’s incentives today, they are aimed at persuading people

of using renewable energies as mentioned in the Literature. Renewable energies are

there to help population reduce the amount of pollution in the creation process of

energy. Glass is recycled for the same purpose: not only will it save energy, but it will

also reduce the carbon dioxide emissions from consumption of energy. The question

we could ask ourselves is why do governments not give subsidies in order to motivate

people to recycle more?

Well, the literature argued that if subsidies were given, evidently more people would

recycle. It is unfortunate yet true to say that people act better when money is involved,

even though the essential motivation should be securing next generations of a clean

planet. When looking at the primary data collected, opinions on giving incentives in

order to increase the glass recovering process varied a great deal. Even within certain

firms, people felt different about the subject. Firstly, in questionnaire 1, Deltenre

(2015) was of the opinion that no subsidies were needed. According to him, the

industry could easily self- regulate itself as the demand for raw materials would

increase and subsequently the price which would sooner or later lead recycling in

order to keep the industry going. This answer is very much parallel with what Baccani

(2015) mentioned about raw materials having an end- period. But both questionnaires

respondents, Candidate 5 (2015) and Baccani (2015), agreed that giving subsidies was

not a necessary cause of action when it comes to pushing forward the recycling of

glass. But an interesting point came to light by candidates 5 and 6. They mentioned

that incentives should be used to motivate the glass collectors to recycle rather than

the citizens itself, referring to the UK where collectors are only picking up one type of

waste bag rather then employing more waste collectors and collect different waste

separately. In the Literature can be seen that only one sort of waste is collected on

‘Kerbside’. Countries such as Belgium, on the other hand, recycle different waste in

 

 

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different colored waste bags, which are then picked up separately by the waste

collectors.

As a conclusion, it can be said that incentives within the glass recovering industry is

definitely needed. Even though a part of the market is able to auto- regulate, subsidies

could boost the recycling industry and therefore have a major positive impact in the

short term in some countries. As East European countries’ recycling rates have

already reached 80% according to Hourquebie (2015), they would need less or no

motivation compared to countries like the UK, that score very badly. Nonetheless, no

exception should be made: every government should encourage their communities

and industries by introducing or evolve existing subsidies.

4.6 The factors affecting companies to recycle glass  As argued over and over in the literature, the main problems affecting the

environment today are the pollution that is generated from the creation of energy and

the use of fossil fuels. When looking at the creation process of glass, high levels of

energy are needed next to that, it also emissions large amounts of CO2. Candidate 5

mentioned that the first to recycle glass in large scale where the Swiss, due to the lack

of raw materials and high transportation costs. Well, when analyzing all candidates’

responses, this has now happened almost everywhere. They are referring to the fact

that raw materials are not endless and that companies slowly but surely come to the

realization that reuse of glass culets is crucial if they want to keep up the current pace

of industry. The literature argued that the recycling of glass is solely done for

environmental benefits such as reducing CO2 emissions, lowering energy

consumption and reducing landfills. All candidates agree with these factors, although

Deltenre (2015) mentioned in questionnaire 1 that the main purpose of companies

enrolling themselves in the recycling process is actually profit- related. Companies

recycle and reduce costs of production when reutilizing culets and therefore make

room for more profit. Additionally to that, the more percentage of culets placed in the

ovens/furnace, the less energy is consumed, which is yet again one of the main goals.

Companies such as Sibelco successfully manage to buy large amounts of waste (from

the UK for example) for a fairly cheap price. Their highly technological plants

 

 

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enables them to then separate the inserted waste up to 90%, to eventually resell the

culets to other large companies such as Vidralla for a much higher price. At the end of

the day, apart from being a money- making business, it can be concluded from the

literature and questionnaires that glass recycling should be encouraged even more for

the main reasons of reducing the exploitation of new mineral resources and reducing

the energy consumption.

4.7 What has made the growth in glass recycling possible  The glass recycling industry has evolved drastically over the last 25 years.

Governments have pushed recycling forward and in many countries collection and

recycling of waste has become a normal daily routine. Communities and households

in Western European countries have set up channels of recycling that are extremely

efficient and are now recycling up to 60% of the population’s waste, as mentioned by

Hourquebie (2015) in questionnaire 4. Technology has yet again played a substantial

role in the evolution of the industry so far, and will continue to be the main factor

affecting the evolution of glass recycling. Delterne (2015) explains that a few years

ago, culets smaller then 10 mm could not be recycled, whereas today advanced

technologies have made it possible for culets of 3 mm to be recycled. A direct

consequence of these new technologies is that larger amounts of glass can be recycled

and reused. Those larger amounts that will be recycled due to the technologies can

support Hourquebies’ (2015) statement of saying that Western Europe can and will

achieve 80% glass recycling. The Literature and the candidates again agreed that

some European countries have still got some growing margins, yet they are close to

achieving their highest possible glass recycling rates (container glass). Hourquebie

(2015) and Candidate 6 (2015) have both mentioned that Central European countries

yet present a tremendous growth potential. From the literature and candidates can

therefore be concluded that for these countries where recycling rates are below the

average, there is more than enough room to grow.

It is important to keep in mind that this data is based on container glass (green, brown

and yellow glass). When comparing the growth potential of flat and flint glass, there

is still tremendous growth possible, as today the highest recycling rate of flat glass in

a country is 30%.

 

 

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4.8. The European Union v the UKs recycling rates  The literature mentioned that The EC Packaging and Waste Directive have put

regulations and demands that the UK glass recycling industry had to achieve a

recycling target of 73.5% by 2010. This target had been set for all European Union

countries, yet only very few managed to achieve those targeted rates. In appendix 6

you can see how those various countries did. The UK will be evaluated next do to the

fact they are far behind there recycling targets. The literature argued that, for the UK,

this came down to three factors. Firstly, poor government recycling initiatives was a

reason for this failure. Secondly, a lack of education during the informative years also

played a crucial role. Furthermore, the fact that 50% of people believe that even if

they recycled the glass it would still end up in landfill did not help either. The final

reason was the fact that the collection system was not as it should be. When

comparing this to the primary data gathered, it came down to more then just what was

mentioned in the Literature. Deltenre (2015) argued that the main problem was the

organization of a good collection system, but this system can only be imputed once

the people have been made aware of a separated collection and the different types of

waste on which this collection is based. (Examples of such collection systems can be

seen in the Netherlands & Belgium). Deltenre (2015) was supported by the opinion of

Ska (2015) & Candidate 6, they argued that the reason for the different recycling rates

came down to a combination of several factors; the will of the legislator (enforcement

aspects are crucial), the discipline of the citizens (need for long term education), a

well developed logistic, the presence of glass factories, the density of population, etc.

These are all factors that explain why recycling rates are not steady through the

European Union. Next to those societal factors, for countries to achieve better results

it is also important to increase the government policies and legislations towards glass

recycling (Hourquebie (2015). As a conclusion it is fair to say that every country can

improve when it comes to glass recycling, but some more then others. Both Literature

and Primary data came to the same outcome that societal factors need to be looked at

if a country is underperforming (such as the UK) and the government needs to put its

foot down in order to increase the recycled rates.

 

 

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4.9 The purpose of glass recycling?  All industries today are focused on being profitable, this is done by finding a great

product and selling it. Or at least it used to be the only focus of companies, as their

clients were not looking further than that. Today, this has profoundly changed,

costumers are looking more and more into using products that are manufactured threw

ecological processes, only buying products in companies who are environmentally

friendly, etc. It is therefore that this dissertation questions the motives for glass

recyclers: are they doing this for solely profitable reasons or are they looking to create

an image in order to attract more clients? Well, according to the literature, companies

are being more environmentally friendly with the sole purpose of increasing their

costumer base. Comparing this to the primary data, the most complete answer came

from Candidate 6 (2015). He argued that companies rarely made decisions based on

only ecological and non-profitable reasons, even though social responsibility, in the

latter of things, is becoming more and more real. Hourquebie (2015) argued that in

the long term, the combination of companies’ economic and environmental interest of

the states would develop and sustain the recycling of glass. These answers were

written by company members, when comparing to Ska (2015) who works for Verver,

a glass recycling commission, who confirmed that on an industrial level, the main

reasons were economical, sometimes also for the image, as industries are put under

pressure of the consumers who are increasingly becoming more environmentally

friendly.

Due to the fact the primary and secondary date collided perfectly it is strait forward to

conclude that the increased pressure of governments and the consumers, companies

are motivated to recycle. Even so, companies not entirely willing recycle glass unless

for the main objective of increasing their profits. As mentioned by Baccani (2015),

head of glass recycling at Sibelco, for them undertaking glass recycling is a way to

balance its quarrying activities (social responsibility), and at the same time making a

business and creating profits out of it.

 

 

 

 

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2.10 The future of glass recycling  After all the argued points and different opinions on where the glass recycling started,

if governments are doing enough to promote glass recycling, on the reason why glass

recycling should be done, etc., it al comes down to this main point that will answer

the research question: does the glass recycling industry have a bright future? As

concluded in the literature, today, an increased amount of people are working towards

a more sustainable future. Governments are enforcing rules and regulations in order to

ensure that individuals and companies adhere to the increased use of green powers

and provide incentives to take on board renewable energies.

As a first answer to this conclusion, Candidate 5 & 6 (2015) argued that if the price of

glass becomes too high, people would increasingly towards the use of PET. Ska

(2015) also mentioned that he is sure that the future of glass recycling in Europe is

more and more under pressure because of the plastic packaging industry (or even

aluminum). Yet he trusts that the environmental future of glass is huge whilst plastic

will only be underlined as harmful packaging.

Deltenre (2015), on the other hand, is arguing that the future is yet the present. This

statement refers to the fact that glass consumers, glass recyclers and glass producers

have a common target (use of glass for packaging). As a result, glass recyclers use the

best available technologies in order to produce high quality culets. A consequence of

these high quality culets is that the industry is continuously increasing the rate of

culets in the furnace. Hourquebie (2015) also mentioned that the rate of incorporation

of culets in the furnaces drastically increased over the 40 past years.

As mentioned through this whole dissertation and as Ska (2015) is reinforcing in

questionnaire 3, the inertia and recyclability of glass is unlimited, its use in buildings

is unavoidable, and the techniques to recycle it are well developed. It is now only a

question of putting this into action, to enforce it, and to segregate the material as

much as possible at the source.

 

 

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From this we can conclude that there is still a serious potential in the glass industry in

Europe. Reasons such as the collection processes improving on a daily basis, the

growing density of population, etc. are all reasons that reinforce Deltenres’ (2015)

opinion. As Hourquebie (2015) and Candidate 6 (2015) have concluded their

questionnaires by stating that “there is real room for improvement in the glass

recovery process in some countries that are have currently fallen behind, while more

mature countries can develop the collection of industrial glass that is almost zero”. It

is very likely that energy will be more expensive in 20 years, the amount of mineral

resources are shrinking and that laws on pollution will harden; the future of the

recycling of glass and other materials have great potential ahead and are far from

mature in Europe, let alone worldwide.

 

 

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Chapter  5  –  Conclusion    

 

5.1 Introduction to Conclusion  Throughout this dissertation, the researcher has been focusing on the importance of

glass recycling. This was done, by specifically looking at container glass, as this is the

glass with the largest production rates. This specific Glass, as mentioned is

manufactured by melting a combination of raw materials that suit the needs of glass.

These raw materials where melted in a furnace and subsequently melted in the

required shapes such as jars and bottles. Glass is a material that in almost all of its

forms is reusable. On top of that it is crucial to know that glass has no end date, it can

be re-melted and reused, as many times as needed, this is especially true for container

glass as quality is not a crucial factor. This has led to manufacturers, governments and

companies identifying that savings on energy, CO2 emissions and resources could be

attained through the recycling and reusing of glass.

5.2 Reuse and Recycling of glass culets

Before discussing the recycling of glass, it is worth mentioning other options for the

reuse of glass briefly. For instants in the UK, high volumes of returnable glass where

reused, this process seemed very beneficial and sustainable, as no reprocessing prior

to reutilization was needed. The shift towards this type of reutilization process, did

not work out. The main reason for this was a consequence of the shift towards

globalization. Referring to the fact after exportation of glass containers, empty

containers had to be returned. This proved to be highly uneconomical, and as a

consequence, many countries decided that the recovery of glass bottles was

superfluous and too expensive.

Following the decrease in reuse of returnable glass, governments and companies

started to focus on the recycling of culet. These processes consisted of recycling as

many culets as possible and reintroduce them to the furnaces. This would mean that

the already used glass culets would be re-melted and mixed with the other raw

 

 

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materials, this process could be performed indefinitely as no loss in performance

would be made. (This was only possible for container glass, other types of glass such

as flat glass would lose quality) This process was not as easy for everyone, as

explained throughout this dissertation, the development of this process depended on

the waste collection schemes and rates of various countries. For instance in Western

European countries, the separation and collection of waste was highly efficient.

Whilst for other countries such as the UK and Eastern European countries have more

difficulty recycling as all the waste collection is mixed. The following requirements

are crucial before entering the culets in the furnace:

• Color Sorting of glass

• 90% is culet limit that can be re-entered in furnace

• Electronic Eye needs to be used before reuse

These requirements are crucial due to the fact that even in the best regulated countries

when it comes to recycling, such as Belgium & Netherlands, glass will be mixed with

other wastes. These other materials will vary from plastic, metals and paper. The use

of the electronic eye is therefore crucial before re-entering the culets back into the

furnace as this sorting equipment threw the help of air jets will be able to identify

other waste (rogue particles) and remove them.

5.3 Environmental benefits of recycling glass  

The recycling of glass has many environmental benefits, as a first the fact that a raw

material will be reused and thrown back into the product life cycle, is a custom that is

an indispensable aspect of sustainable expansion. Yet, there are obviously more

meaningful benefits of recycling glass. Glass for hundreds of years when used, was

then used as landfill, this was harmful to the earth due to the fact that glass does not

decompose. As a consequence in order to move towards a more sustainable future,

reduction in landfill is crucial. The last and most crucial benefit of glass recycling will

be in the return of culets to the glassmaking process. This process will reduce the

energy consumption and the CO2 emission of the glass creation method. Figure 8

gives an estimate of the energy that can be saved.

 

 

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Figure  8  -­‐  Illustration  of  Energy  Saved  Due  to  Reuse  of  Glass  Culets  

 

Source: Glassforeurope.com, 2015

5.4 The Growth of Glass Recycling

As a conclusion to this dissertation an analysis on the growth potential of the glass

industry and to what extent is the recycling of glass becoming significant in the

development of green energies in Europe. The recycling of glass, as mentioned started

in the 1970s, this movement was like now driven by increased environmental

concerns. Through the years the levels of glass recycling have increased steadily, in a

vast amount of European countries. For example, the Netherlands, by 1994, had

achieved to recycle 77% of their glass consumption. The Netherlands has therefore

achieved the highest glass-recycling rate of the whole of Europe. The UKs

performance was still far behind the set regulations. By 2001, the UK had achieved

their all time high rates of 50%, this increase were driven by new regulations set by

the Packaging and waste directive. Those new regulations meant that increased

responsibilities were placed upon producers and handlers of packaging. These new

 

 

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legislations proved to be effective as recycling rates where reaching new highs. But

these ended up dropping back to 25-40%. (British Glass, 2003) When looking at the

secondary data mentioned here above, it is clear to see that governments have been

pushing forward the recycling for many years and will keep doing so. And as industry

specialists such as Hourquebie (2015) and Candidate 6 (2015) keep mentioning

throughout their questionnaire answers, that as a first it is very likely that energy, will

be more expensive in 20 years. And secondly the most important point in my opinion

is that the amount of mineral resources available for production will continue to

shrink. This will keep happening whilst the population of the world will increase and

demand more glass products. Therefore as the primary data explains over and over,

the recycling of glass will become imperative in the future development of this earth.

Figure 9 shows the development of the glass recycled from 1980 up to 2010, as can be

seen the curve is solely moving upwards, from all mentioned above, it should be clear

and certain that it will keep moving that direction.

Figure  9  -­‐  Evolution  of  Glass  Recycled  In  Europe  

Source: Glassforeurope.com, 2015

 

 

 

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Chapter 6 - Bibliography

6.1 Academic Journals

Bloemhof-Ruwaard, Jacqueline M. et al. 'Interactions Between Operational Research

And Environmental Management'. European Journal of Operational Research 85.2

(1995): 229-243. Web.

Bragg L. 'Glass Bottle Recycling Benefits And Barriers'. GlassWorks (2013): n. pag.

Print.

Bryman A. 'Of Methods And Methodology'. Qual Research in Orgs & Mgmt 3.2

(2008): 159-168. Web.

Bryman A. And Bell, E. (2011) Business research methods. Oxford: Oxfor Univ.

Press.

Davidson L. 'Qualitative Research Methods In Psychology: Introduction Through

Empirical Studies'. Journal of Phenomenological Psychology 38.1 (2007): 151-154.

Web.

Fleischmann M. et al. 'A Characterisation Of Logistics Networks For Product

Recovery'. Omega 28.6 (2000): 653-666. Web.

Giovanni A. and Noci G. 'Seeing Ecology And “Green” Innovations As A Source Of

Change'. Journal of OrgChange Mgmt 11.2 (1998): 94-111. Web.

Krapp A. 'Interest, Motivation And Learning: An Educational-Psychological

Perspective'. European Journal of Psychology of Education 14.1 (1999): 23-40. Web.

 

 

 Stanislas  Emsens  

     

50  

Lampe M. and Gregory M. Gazda. 'Green Marketing In Europe And The United

States: An Evolving Business And Society Interface'. International Business Review

4.3 (1995): 295-312. Web.

Marsh A.H. and Garnham A. 'Investigation, Hazard Assessment And Remediation Of

Existing Landfills'. Geological Society, London, Engineering Geology Special

Publications 11.1 (1996): 3-7. Web.

Murphy P.R. and Richard F.P. 'Green Perspectives And Practices: A “Comparative

Logistics” Study'. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal 8.2 (2003):

122-131. Web.

Reichardt C.S. and Cook T.D. Qualitative And Quantitative Methods In Evaluation

Research. Beverly Hills, Calif.: Sage Publications, 1979. Print.

Remenyi, D. and Brown A. European Conference On Research Methodology For

Business And Management Studies. [Reading]: [MCIL], 2003. Print.

Sedgwick, P. 'Snowball Sampling'. BMJ 347.dec20 2 (2013): f7511-f7511. Web.

Thierry M. et al. 'Strategie Issues In Product Recovery Management'. California

Management Review 37.2 (1995): 114-135. Web.

Thormark, C. 'Conservation Of Energy And Natural Resources By Recycling

Building Waste'. Resources, Conservation and Recycling 33.2 (2001): 113-130. Web.

Tyskeng, S. and Finnveden G.. 'Comparing Energy Use And Environmental Impacts

Of Recycling And Waste Incineration'. Journal of Environmental Engineering 136.8

(2010): 744-748. Web.

Van Hoek R.I. 'From Reversed Logistics To Green Supply Chains'. Supply Chain

Management: An International Journal 4.3 (1999): 129-135. Web.

 

 

 Stanislas  Emsens  

     

51  

6.2 Books  Atkinson, W, and R New. An Overview Of The Impact Of Source Separation

Schemes On The Domestic Waste Stream In The UK And Their Relevance To The

Government's Recycling Target. Stevenage: Warren Spring Laboratory, 1993. Print.

Saunders et al., Research Methods For Business Students. Harlow, England: Pearson,

2012. Print.

Berg B.L. Qualitative Research Methods For The Social Sciences. Boston: Allyn &

Bacon, 2009. Print.

6.3 Government Publication  Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs,. Glass Packaging Recycling:

Proposed Changes To Business Target. London: DEFRA, 2005. Print.

6.4 Magazines  Schab T. 'How Long Does It Take For A Glass Bottle To Degrade In A Landfill?'.

Global Post. Web. 6 Mar. 2015.

6.5 Reports

Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy,. Guide To Purchasing Green Power. U.S.

Department of Energy, 2010. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. Renewable Electricity, Renewable

Energy Certificates, And On-Site Renewable Generation.

 

 

 Stanislas  Emsens  

     

52  

European Environment Agency,. Reducing Air Pollution From Electricity-Generating

Large Combustion Plants In The European Union. Demmark: European Environment

Agency, 2013. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. An Assessment Of Potential Emission Reductions.

O’Connor C. Group SIE,. Green Power Initiative At HWS. 2010. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.

Green Powers.

Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology,. Recycling Household Waste.

London: POCT, 2005. Web. 20 Apr. 2015. Recycling.

Ray Georgeson Resources Ltd & Friends of the Earth,. More Jobs, Less Waste. UK:

URSUS Consulting, 2010. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. Potential For Job Creation Through

Higher Rates Of Recycling In The UK And EU.

6.6 Websites

Britglass.org.uk,. 'Glass Manufacturing - British Glass'. N.p., 2014. Web. 8 Apr.

2015.

Britglass.org.uk,. Glass Recycling Lifecycle - British Glass'. N.p., 2003. Web. 20 Apr.

2015.

Conserve-Energy-Future,. 'Importance Of Recycling'. N.p., 2013. Web. 3 Apr. 2015.

Glassallianceeurope.eu,. 'Glass Industries - Glass Alliance Europe'. N.p., 2015. Web.

6 Mar. 2015.

Glassforeurope.com,. 'Flat Glass Industry Facts And Figures'. N.p., 2015. Web. 24

Apr. 2015.

Green-e.org,. 'Welcome To Green-E!'. N.p., 2015. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.

 

 

 Stanislas  Emsens  

     

53  

Ilsr.org,. 'Institute For Local Self-Reliance | Building Community, Strengthening

Economies'. N.p., 2014. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.

Nrdc.org,. 'NRDC: The Past, Present And Future Of Recycling'. N.p., 2015. Web. 20

Apr. 2015.

Unknown. (2013). Facts on Glass and Glass Recycling. Available:

http://www.berrymanglassrecycling.com/glass-recycling/facts-on-glass-glass-

recycling/. Last accessed 21th Apr 2015.

Unknown. (2005). Waste Management to Zero Waste to Landfill Waste Prevention.

Available: http://www.valpak.co.uk/waste-recycling. Last accessed 21th Apr 2015.

Wasteonline.org.uk,. 'Waste Online Homepage'. N.p., 2005. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.

Yarow, Jay. 'The 15 Worst Companies For The Planet'. Business Insider. N.p., 2009.

Web. 4 Apr. 2015.

 

 

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Chapter  7  -­‐  Appendices  

 

7.1 Questionnaire Introduction Page  My name is Stanislas Emsens, I am currently undertaking an International Business

degree at the Regent’s University in London. This International Business degree

consists of undertaking a dissertation as part of the final semester to our program. In

order to conduct a well-structured dissertation secondary data will have to be

collected from sources such as books, reports, academic journals, etc. Simultaneously,

primary data will need to be collected, I have decided to do this through the hand of

questionnaires. The primary data collected will help me gain greater understanding of

the problems and challenges the industry is facing. My research question is based

upon analyzing the future of the glass recycling industry with on insight of current

glass recycling market in Europe compares to the UK glass recycling at the moment.

At the end of the dissertation if will need to conduct a discussion and findings chapter

where I will need to discuss the arguments that have been created on the basis of

comparing the primary and secondary data. This is where your help in answering the

following questions will help my judgment, and allow me to give a more critical and

in depth perspective on this subject. It is therefore why I ask you to answer this

questionnaire to the best of your ability. If you wish to answer them in a language

other then English, please feel free to do so. Please return the answers to the following

e-mail address; emsens.stanislas@gmail.com

The use of my responses to the questionnaires, can be used in the dissertation, and

referred back to myself: Yes / No

Thank you very much in advance,

Stanislas Emsens

 

 

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7.2 Candidates for Questionnaires

Name Position Company Date

Delterne Christian General Manager Minérale and High

5

17-05-2015

Baccani Corrado Head Of Glass

Recycling

Sibelco 21-05-2015

Ska Boadouin Secretary General Verver (European

Commision)

16-05-2015

Hourquebie Sylvain Comercial and

Marketing Director

Sibelco Green

Solutions

24-05-2015

Candidate 5 Retired CFO / 20-05-2015

Candidate 6 Head Of Factory / 12-05-2015

7.3 Questionnaire Questions Sample  

1. To your knowledge how long has it been since companies have started to put

effort in the recycling of glass rather then just producing new glass? How long

has it been where you are working now?

2. How has the glass recycling industry evolved since you have been working in

it?

3. Has the Manufacturing process of flat and container glass changed since you

started?

 

 

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4. Do you think European countries are pushing the recovery and recycling of

glass enough, or should governments do more?

5. Governments are giving subsidies towards the use of renewable energies, do

you think they should do the same and give subsidies to companies in order to

motivate them to recycle their glass?

6. Through the recycling of glass there are many environmental benefits, what is,

in your opinion the greatest advantage and reasons for pushing forwards glass

recycling?

7. Is the glass recycling industry reaching its highest point or is there still a lot of

room for the industry to evolve?

8. Some countries in Europe are already quite developed when looking at the

glass recycling statistics. (E.g. Benelux, Germany, France) Are these countries

achieving better results due to higher government policies or is it something

else? What can countries do to increase the recycling and the reutilization of

their glass?

9. Is the recycling of glass done solely for profitable reasons, or are companies

trying to push forward the fact that they are becoming more environmentally

friendly.

10. What is the future of the glass recycling in Europe? Does it have a lot of

potential or is it just too expensive and is something that will never grow

much more then the levels the industry is achieving today?

 

 

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7.4 Questionnaire 1

Name, Job title and organisation name: Candidate 1, Deltenre Christian, General

Manager at Minérale and High 5

The use of my responses to the questionnaires, can be used in the dissertation, and

referred back to myself: Yes

1. To your knowledge how long has it been since companies have started to put

effort in the recycling of glass rather then just producing new glass? How

long has it been where you are working now?

I think that since the beginning of the history of the Humanity, the human being

recycles. I think that when the “Grün” took some importance in Germany, this

country organized quickly the collection and this was the start of the glass recycling

in Europe.

Personally, my first contact with the recycling of glass happened in the year 1996. It

was very raw: one conveyor belt and ten people removing manually the main

impurities…

The glass industry has always been interested by the use of culets, but at the start of

this history, the collection of raw material was poor and the technical possibilities of

the recyclers were also very weak.

2. How has the glass recycling industry evolved since you have been working in

it?

I’m involved in the glass business (part time since 1 996) and full time since 2006.

The glass industry has drastically involved and took all the possible actions to get

more and more culets in the furnace. As the evolution of the technology by the glass

 

 

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recyclers, the glass industry increases systematically his requirements regarding the

quality of the culets.

It’s sure now that the evolution of the quality of the culets is especially dependent of

the evolution of the technology of the optical sorters. Because these machines are

based on computer technology, the possibilities remain very impressive.

As result, how more quality culets are available by the glass recyclers, how more the

glass industry will use in his furnace.

3. Has the Manufacturing process of flat and container glass changed since you

started?

Basically, not very much, for so far I know. It’s an old industry and the always use a

furnace but it ‘sure that a lot of improvements have been done by the glass

industry…. It’s sure that the energy consumption has been optimized, that the process

control is now largely done by sophisticated programs and we can see that the

diversity and the high quality of the products are widely used, especially the flat glass

4. Do you think European countries are pushing the recovery and recycling of

glass enough, or should governments do more?

Some countries with a high density of population are collecting and recycling at

maximum levels (Belgium, the Netherlands).

It’s today a general interest to collect and recycle more glass. The demand of culets is

high, it’s a common interest to collect and recycle this type of waste. As result, other

European countries (France, Spain) and countries of East Europe will see more and

more opportunities (also economic) to collect more.

 

 

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59  

A few year ago, the collection of mixed glass gave you roughly 0 €/T, now the

municipality is able to get more than 20 €/T.

5. Governments are giving subsidies towards the use of renewable energies, do

you think they should do the same and give subsidies to companies in order

to motivate them to recycle their glass?

No, the system is able to be self-supporting and doesn’t need extra subsidies. There’s

no need to get incentives : the demand of raw material is very high and if the demand

is high, the prices for this material increases.

6. Through the recycling of glass there are many environmental benefits, what

is, in your opinion the greatest advantage and reasons for pushing forwards

glass recycling?

First, avoid landfilling : this step is mainly done. But let’s be realistic; the main

interest remains an economical interest. How more percentage of culets in the

furnace, how less energy consumption, how less CO2 emissions. In my opinion,

saving fuel is the more environmental advantage.

7. Is the glass recycling industry reaching its highest point or is there still a lot

of room for the industry to evolve?

For the production of green bottles, the glass industry is nearly his maximum for the

use of culets:..85 % … For flint, there’s a possible increase (today..55..%), but here

the quality of the cullet and especially his color is a key factor.

Due to the fact that the technology of the glass recycling increase his performances,

the glass recycler is able to produce more and more high quality culets. Now, sorting

optically until a grain size of 3 mm has become a reality, which means that the glass

 

 

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recycler is able to sell until a grain size above 3 mm (was 10 mm a few years ago) ; at

the same time, the performance of the optical sorters also improved allowing the

possibility to sell more and more high quality culets able to be used in the furnace.

8. Some countries in Europe are already quite developed when looking at the

glass recycling statistics. (E.g. Benelux, Germany, France) Are these

countries achieving better results due to higher government policies or is it

something else? What can countries do to increase the recycling and the

reutilization of their glass?

The organization of a good collection system is the basis. It needs also education of

the population. The glass recyclers can accept some waste in the raw material, but it

must be a separated collection system for the glass.

If glass is collected, there’s a demand for culets and glass if there is no local recycler,

the glass is easy to transport per ship of 1.200 T on the main European rivers

9. Is the recycling of glass done solely for profitable reasons, or are companies

trying to push forward the fact that they are becoming more environmentally

friendly.

In my opinion, it’s so evident today that the recycling of glass the same for other

materials) is exclusively driven by economical factors ; for sure, if at the same time

the economy gives also advantages to the environment, the deal is really perfect.

When we meet our customers, we speak about tonnages and money, we don’t speak

about the advantages of the culets for the environment. It’s become “normal” and is a

(hidden part of the business.

 

 

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10. What is the future of the glass recycling in Europe? Does it have a lot of

potential or is it just too expensive and is something that will never grow

much more then the levels the industry is achieving today?

The future is yet the present: glass consumers, glass recyclers, glass producers have a

common target by using the glass as wonderful packaging system. As result, recyclers

use the best available technologies to be able to produce high quality culets. Due to

this high quality, the glass industry is continuously able to increase the rate of culets

in the furnace.

A serious potential remains in Europe for the glass industry.

The collection is easier with density population; the glass industry requires very

important investments and to build a recycling plant, you need to treat 250.000 T/year

to get an acceptable return on investment.

In Europe, we can find countries or areas where these elements are present…

7.5 Questionnaire 2

Name, Job title and organisation name: Candidate 2, Baccani Corrado, Head of

Glass Recycling at Sibelco.

The use of my responses to the questionnaires, can be used in the dissertation, and

referred back to myself: Yes

1. To your knowledge how long has it been since companies have started to put

effort in the recycling of glass rather then just producing new glass? How

long has it been where you are working now?

 

 

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Glass recycling started since the community had problems to manage the waste

disposal. Being the cullet easy to separate from metal plastic and organic, the

municipalities started asking to the glass factory to reuse it. By the pressure of the

municipalities and the willingness of the glassmaker to use the cullet in the production

batch, some pioneers (in some cases the glass. Maker too) started the manufacturing

process of upgrading the cullet into a raw material.

2. How has the glass recycling industry evolved since you have been working in

it?

During the last 20 years The glass recycling technology has evolved: from having

contaminants that limited to recycle back to the furnace few percentage to an

improved process that allows to recycle in the batch up to 90 %

3. Has the Manufacturing process of flat and container glass changed since you

started?

The main process improvement was the introduction of the optical sorters that allow

the removal of ceramic/ stones and the possibility of extracting glass quality by color

(white, green, Amber).

4. Do you think European countries are pushing the recovery and recycling of

glass enough, or should governments do more?

All the west European countries are pushing the glass recycling to reduce mineral

extraction and energy consumption: east and other Mediterranean countries have to

improve the collection of municipal waste in order to allow the adoption of west

European country measures.

 

 

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5. Governments are giving subsidies towards the use of renewable energies, do

you think they should do the same and give subsidies to companies in order

to motivate them to recycle their glass?

In some countries there are subsidies to stimulate the recycling: but where this

practice is applied (half of the west European countries) there is the necessity to

'regulate ' the allocation of product/ subsidies through specific legislative tools (case

in France and Italy). In other market the cullet is treated like a product where the offer

/ demand is self regulated, anyway also in this case the state might give inventive for

the research of the alternatives uses.

6. Through the recycling of glass there are many environmental benefits, what

is, in your opinion the greatest advantage and reasons for pushing forwards

glass recycling?

The main reason to push recycling is: the reduction of exploitation of new mineral

resources and the reduction of the energy consumption (melting the glass is less

expensive than produce it through the blends of virgin minerals > 20perc energy

reduction)

7. Is the glass recycling industry reaching its highest point or is there still a lot

of room for the industry to evolve?

The technology is today well advanced: the main challenge is to reduce the

manufacturing costs and to find the way of valorizing the by products exiting the

process (special wastes and low value glass).

 

 

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8. Some countries in Europe are already quite developed when looking at the

glass recycling statistics. (E.g. Benelux, Germany, France) Are these

countries achieving better results due to higher government policies or is it

something else? What can countries do to increase the recycling and the

reutilization of their glass?

The main contribution that the European can make to increase the glass recycling is

by simplifying the laws that are sometime hurdles difficult to work with and to

improve the waste collection system.

9. Is the recycling of glass done solely for profitable reasons, or are companies

trying to push forward the fact that they are becoming more environmentally

friendly.

Both reasons are equally true: for Sibelco is also a way of balancing its quarrying

activities (social responsibility). At the same time we are making a business and

creating profit out of it.

10. What is the future of the glass recycling in Europe? Does it have a lot of

potential or is it just too expensive and is something that will never grow

much more then the levels the industry is achieving today?

The sector of recycling will grow over and over due to the earth inhabitants growing,

the scarce resources in the earth and the environmental consciousness that the humans

are developing.

 

 

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7.6 Questionnaire 3

Name, Job title and organisation name: Candidate 3, Ska Boadouin, Secretary

general at Verver (European Commission for glass recycling)

The use of my responses to the questionnaires, can be used in the dissertation, and

referred back to myself: Yes

1. To your knowledge how long has it been since companies have started to put

effort in the recycling of glass rather then just producing new glass? How

long has it been where you are working now?

I’m working since 2010 as secretary general of FERVER, the European federation of

the glass recyclers. The recycling of glass exists already since decades. Our federation

started officially 10 years ago, but existed already years before on a more informal

basis. The formal start of large-scale glass recycling from citizens is the enforcement

of the Packaging and packaging waste directive (1994) but texts on packaging were

already published in 1985

(see http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/packaging/index_en.htm).

2. How has the glass recycling industry evolved since you have been working in

it?

The recycling market is in constant evolution. The recycling activity becomes more

professional, the quality of output must ever be better, more and more machinery is

required to increase this quality, erasing contaminants as heat resistant glass, stones,

porcelain, ceramics, organics, lead containing glass, fines.

 

 

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The demand of the glass industry is increasing and new business opportunities erase

(like foam glass).

3. Has the Manufacturing process of flat and container glass changed since you

started?

This is not our speciality (take best contact with FEVE for that). But I think that

efforts have been made to reduce the consumption of energy by making the

installations more performing, and also by increasing the quantity of recycled material

as input.

4. Do you think European countries are pushing the recovery and recycling of

glass enough, or should governments do more?

If all the EU-members do apply correctly the packaging and packaging waste

directive, it should be fantastic. But efforts are ever possible to increase the recycling

of flat glass coming from the construction/renovation/demolition activity of buildings

as well as from the car industry (End of Live Vehicles).

5. Governments are giving subsidies towards the use of renewable energies, do

you think they should do the same and give subsidies to companies in order

to motivate them to recycle their glass?

I think so. Not only a push incentive (rules and enforcement) are necessary to promote

the recycling, also pull methods are needed, like financial incentives, min. content of

recycling material in new products, better evaluation of (public) tenders in case of the

involvement of recycled materials (e.g. road construction)

 

 

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6. Through the recycling of glass there are many environmental benefits, what

is, in your opinion the greatest advantage and reasons for pushing forwards

glass recycling?

The greatest benefit is and always will be the saving of energy resources. It looks

strange, but the quantity of sand suitable for the production of glass is not unlimited.

7. Is the glass recycling industry reaching its highest point or is there still a lot

of room for the industry to evolve?

There is obviously still growing margin, especially in the flat glass sector as already

mentioned above.

8. Some countries in Europe are already quite developed when looking at the

glass recycling statistics. (E.g. Benelux, Germany, France) Are these

countries achieving better results due to higher government policies or is it

something else? What can countries do to increase the recycling and the

reutilization of their glass?

It’s a combination of several factors: the will of the legislator (enforcement aspects

are crucial), the discipline of the citizens (need for long term education), a well

developed logistic, the presence of glass factories, the density of the population, etc.

9. Is the recycling of glass done solely for profitable reasons, or are companies

trying to push forward the fact that they are becoming more environmentally

friendly.

 

 

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At industrial level is it mainly a question of economic advantage, sometimes also a

question of image (under pressure of the consumers paying ever more attention to the

protection of the environment, in case the products are destined to the citizens (like

soft drinks). At public level, it is a question of enforcement and political will.

10. What is the future of the glass recycling in Europe? Does it have a lot of

potential or is it just too expensive and is something that will never grow

much more then the levels the industry is achieving today?

I’m sure there is a future for the glass recycling in Europe. Even if the glass

packaging is more and more under pressure of the plastic packaging industry (or

aluminium / cans), the environmental advantages of glass are huge. Nobody speaks

about a glass soup, well about a plastic soup in the oceans…

The inertia and recyclability of glass is unlimited, its use in buildings is unavoidable,

and the techniques to recycle it are well developed. It’s a question to do it, to enforce

it, and to segregate the material as much as possible at the source

7.7 Questionnaire 4

Name, Job title and organisation name: Candidate 4, Hourquebie Sylvain,

Commercial and Marketing director at Sibleco Green Solutions

The use of my responses to the questionnaires, can be used in the dissertation, and

referred back to myself: Yes

1. To your knowledge how long has it been since companies have started to put

effort in the recycling of glass rather then just producing new glass? How

long has it been where you are working now?

 

 

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In France, household glass recycling started in 1974, making it over 40 years so that

the glass industry incorporates cullet in its formulations. The introductory rate has

continued to grow during this period due to the development of sorting and economic

benefits - reducing energy consumption and C02 emissions

I have worked for 2 years at Sibelco Green Solutions after spending four years in

Sibelco France.

2. How has the glass recycling industry evolved since you have been working in

it?

Since the start of the recycling of glass, all glass cullet increased the incorporation

rate in the ovens at the expense of mineral and soda. To support this growing demand,

recyclers have developed through many investments that have helped increase

production capacity and improve the quality of cullet (fewer pollutants, treatment of

fine particles, color separation).

3. Has the Manufacturing process of flat and container glass changed since you

started?

We have not found any major change in glass production processes for 2 years but it

is true that all glassmakers have sought to rationalize production tools with oven

closures and purpose to saturate the remaining plants. It was therefore necessary to

absorb the additional volume with limited capabilities and thus increase the output of

the furnaces. The design of the new glass furnaces now takes into account the

incorporation of cullet in high proportions - up to 90% green.

The flat glass industry, which has always been careful with cullet because of the risk

of pollution, is now seeking to increase its consumption. The required quality is

significantly higher than for hollow glass.

4. Do you think European countries are pushing the recovery and recycling of

glass enough, or should governments do more?

 

 

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European directives and national laws of the past 10 years have forced states to

improve the management of waste glass and recycling rates in Western Europe have

made real progress. The EU must continue to stimulate the recycling of packaging

materials - 80% vs 60% glass-and now states must continue to support communities

to strengthen the sorting and collection means.

A huge work must be done for glass from demolition of homes or motor vehicles

because 90% of it share in landfills and not recycled.

5. Governments are giving subsidies towards the use of renewable energies, do

you think they should do the same and give subsidies to companies in order

to motivate them to recycle their glass?

The collection and household glass recycling are still growing in Europe and most

national systems are effective. It is against possible to stimulate the recycling of

industrial glass with state aid but it must prohibit parallel or increase the cost of

setting glass discharge.

For glass recyclers, it would be appropriate to consider a privileged status and perhaps

subsidies for the costs of disposal. Indeed, they are not responsible for the waste

generated from recycling, but do not enjoy special conditions for their elimination.

6. Through the recycling of glass there are many environmental benefits, what

is, in your opinion the greatest advantage and reasons for pushing forwards

glass recycling?

Recycling of waste, especially that of glass avoids first to bury or to landfill which is

essential for our planet.

Added to this is the reduction in energy consumption, reduction of C02 emissions and

limiting the use of raw materials.

 

 

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7. Is the glass recycling industry reaching its highest point or is there still a lot

of room for the industry to evolve?

The countries of Western Europe have an average recycling rate of 60% glass but it is

entirely possible to achieve 80% as in some countries or to other materials.

The Central European countries that are part of the European Union present a

tremendous growth potential without relying on the United States, Russia or Turkey.

8. Some countries in Europe are already quite developed when looking at the

glass recycling statistics. (E.g. Benelux, Germany, France) Are these

countries achieving better results due to higher government policies or is it

something else? What can countries do to increase the recycling and the

reutilization of their glass?

The difference between countries glass recycling rate can be explained by a number

of societal factors - consumption patterns, local glass production, country size,

culture, population density, level of development, etc. - But it sure is that government

policies play a role and should support recycling.

High-potential countries are Italy and Spain in Western Europe and Poland, Turkey or

Russia further east.

9. Is the recycling of glass done solely for profitable reasons, or are companies

trying to push forward the fact that they are becoming more environmentally

friendly.

It is very rare that companies or countries make choices only ecological and non-

economic environmental responsibility even if the latter is becoming more real and

strong. The combination of companies' economic interests and environmental

interests of the states will develop and sustain the recycling of glass.

 

 

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10. What is the future of the glass recycling in Europe? Does it have a lot of

potential or is it just too expensive and is something that will never grow

much more then the levels the industry is achieving today?

The volumes of recycled glass and the rate of incorporation of cullet in the furnaces

increased steadily over the past 40 years and the trend continues. There are real room

for improvement for glass recycling in some countries that are late while more mature

countries can develop the collection of industrial glass that is almost zero. It is very

likely that the energy is more expensive in 20 years, that mineral resources are

shrinking and that the laws on pollution harden; the future of the recycling of glass

and other materials besides therefore has great potential ahead and is far from mature

in Europe let alone worldwide.

7.8 Questionnaire 5

Name, Job title and organisation name: Candidate 5, Ex CFO of a Mineral

Company

The use of my responses to the questionnaires, can be used in the dissertation, and

referred back to myself: No

1. To your knowledge how long has it been since companies have started to put

effort in the recycling of glass rather than just producing new glass? How

long has it been where you are working now?

For over 20 years and the Swiss people were the first to start because they do not

possess any minerals and had high transportation costs

 

 

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2. How has the glass recycling industry evolved since you have been working in

it?

Since 5 years, technology has remarkably improved , mainly in optical color sorting ,

where the more white , the more pure.

3. Has the Manufacturing process of flat and container glass changed since you

started?

Flat glass is much more complicated because of the quality of the recycled product

and the consistency. Today only 28% of flat glass is recycled where in bottle glass,

almost 100% is being recycled

4. Do you think European countries are pushing the recovery and recycling of

glass enough, or should governments do more?

Europe is the engine of the world, due to the fact that glass industry (flat and bottle) is

very concentrated, the rest of the world is not so developed. In Europe, only UK is

less developed because they only recycle 45%.

5. Governments are giving subsidies towards the use of renewable energies, do

you think they should do the same and give subsidies to companies in order

to motivate them to recycle their glass?

I do not think so because for them energy saving costs of over 30% is very important,

it would be better to give subsidies for glass collection.

 

 

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6. Through the recycling of glass there are many environmental benefits, what

is, in your opinion the greatest advantage and reasons for pushing forwards

glass recycling?

Energy savings in glass fusion and savings in purchase and transportation of raw

material.

7. Is the glass recycling industry reaching its highest point or is there still a lot

of room for the industry to evolve?

Hollow glass has almost reached its highest point

Flat glass is only at 30% of its capacity but one has to find the raw material

8. Some countries in Europe are already quite developed when looking at the

glass recycling statistics. (E.g. Benelux, Germany, France) Are these

countries achieving better results due to higher government policies or is it

something else? What can countries do to increase the recycling and the

reutilization of their glass?

Improve glass collection: emphasize people to return their bottles (if the glass price is

climbing too high, the PET market will take advantage of it )

 

 

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9. Is the recycling of glass done solely for profitable reasons, or are companies

trying to push forward the fact that they are becoming more environmentally

friendly.

Only for profit

10. What is the future of the glass recycling in Europe? Does it have a lot of

potential or is it just too expensive and is something that will never grow

much more then the levels the industry is achieving today?

A raise of 10 to 15% of flat glass because they have reached an average of 75% but

on the other hand, the is still a big potential in hollow glass.

7.9 Questionnaire 6

Name, Job title and organisation name: Candidate 6, head of recycling factory

The use of my responses to the questionnaires, can be used in the dissertation, and

referred back to myself: No

1. To your knowledge how long has it been since companies have started to put

effort in the recycling of glass rather than just producing new glass? How

long has it been where you are working now?

I  started  in  the  company  I  am  working  at  today,  12  years  ago  and  back  then  we  

where  receiving  large  amounts  of  waste  and  retrieving  the  large  pieces  of  glass  

manually.    

   

 

 

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2. How has the glass recycling industry evolved since you have been working in

it?

Over the last 12 years many things have changed. As mentioned before the recycling

was solely done manually. Now the process has become fairly simple for us but

technologically more complex. Due to the increased technologies new machinery has

been put to use in order to recycle larger amounts of glass.

3. Has the Manufacturing process of flat and container glass changed since you

started?

This is hard to discuss for, as I have solely been involved in the recycling and

reutilization of the glass.

4. Do you think European countries are pushing the recovery and recycling of

glass enough, or should governments do more?

Apart from the improved technologies it is fair to say that more recycling has been

done as a consequence of the new legislations and regulation of governments etc. But

surely countries such as the UK have still very large growing margins and

governments should push the achieved targets.

5. Governments are giving subsidies towards the use of renewable energies, do

you think they should do the same and give subsidies to companies in order

to motivate them to recycle their glass?

Incentives are mainly given to green power such as the renewable energies. Although

some money incentives have been done in Eastern Europe before. Whilst I am not

sure that this is a good solution, incentives for this industry is in my opinion not

necessary. The glass recycling industry is able to auto regulate itself and make large

 

 

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amounts of profits if done properly. But to refer to the previous question maybe

money incentives could be given to collectors of glass. As they could be motivated

and increase the recycling rates.

6. Through the recycling of glass there are many environmental benefits, what

is, in your opinion the greatest advantage and reasons for pushing forwards

glass recycling?

Energy saving, CO2 emissions reduction and reducing the amount of natural resources

used are the 3 most significant reasons to recycle glass in my opinion.

7. Is the glass recycling industry reaching its highest point or is there still a lot

of room for the industry to evolve?

In many countries specially Central European countries when looking at container

glass are reaching high recycling targets. But some room for improvement will always

be there. Even though I think that 100% will never be achievable with 80 % as a limit.

This Especially with the continuous improvements of technology.

8. Some countries in Europe are already quite developed when looking at the

glass recycling statistics. (E.g. Benelux, Germany, France) Are these

countries achieving better results due to higher government policies or is it

something else? What can countries do to increase the recycling and the

reutilization of their glass?

It is very clear that those countries that are achieving the higher recycling rates are

achieving those due to good collection and recycling regulations. But this is not the

sole reason in my opinion. In countries like the Netherland, households recycle

everything, and so for the past 40 years it has become a natural part of their lives.

 

 

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Children are growing up recycling and therefore logically will continue doing this.

Countries such as the UK are lacking this, Recycling is not in their lives and therefore

they are lacking in what is in my opinion some education.

9. Is the recycling of glass done solely for profitable reasons, or are companies

trying to push forward the fact that they are becoming more environmentally

friendly.

Generally I would say they solely do it for profit. But it is fair to say that people are

increasingly relying on companies that are environmently friendly. So if it helps the

companies to grow im sure they will be happy to mention that they are being

sustainable. For some companies it will also balance out their mining activities ( such

as glaverbel and rio tinto)

10. What is the future of the glass recycling in Europe? Does it have a lot of

potential or is it just too expensive and is something that will never grow

much more then the levels the industry is achieving today?

I personally think that there is a very bright future for this industry as technology is

still fairly young when it comes to recycling the culets. But for me the crucial thing is

that today we are about 750 million people in Europe, let’s face the fact that in 25

years another 150 million can be added with the average life expectancies increasing

drastically. This will mean that the consumers of glass will demand more products. As

a consequence more products will have to be made in order to follow demand but the

natural resources to create glass are not endless, so sooner or later recycling will

become vital. So for me the industry will maybe not directly but in the long term

recycling of glass will become important.

 

 

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7.10 Appendix 1 – Recycling amounts (Tones) of wastes  

   source: Glassforeurope.com, 2015

7.11 Appendix 2 – Waste Management Percentage  

   Source: Atkinson, W. and New, R. (1993)

 

 

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7.12 Appendix 3 – Job creation through recycling  

   Source:  Ray  Georgeson  Resources  Ltd  &  Friends  of  the  Earth  Ltd,  2010    

7.13 Appendix 4 - Composition of waste of average household  

   

Source: Analysis of household waste composition, Dr J. Parfitt, WRAP 2002

 

 

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7.14 Appendix 5 – Opinion of Glass Recycling in the UK  

 

Source: Glass Bottle Recycling Benefits and Barriers, Glass for Europe, 2011

7.15 Appendix 6 - Europe Glass Recycling Rates  

   Source:  European  Glass  Recycling  Rates  2003,  Valpak,  2005