Re: [GreenYes] Glass, plastic and steel cans not recyclable, says paper industry executive

[Helen Spiegelman <hspie@telus.net>]

Thank you Christine for your common sense. When recycling stops being an
adjunct to municipal trash collection and begins to be a 'reverse
logistics' process for asset management carried out by/for the industry
that introduced the products into the marketplace in the first place, we
will see these problems addressed sensibly.

I never, never put glass into my municipal recycling box. When I
absolutely have to purchase a single-use glass container (which I avoid
as a consumer because I understand the environmental burdens associated
with glass production) if I cannot find a better use for the container
around the house I throw it out in the trash. Meanwhile, I am lobbying my
local government to ** discontinue the collection of glass *** for
recycling. We have a deposit return system that applies to all glass
bottles, and the dwindling numbers of glass jars on the market are
destined to be replaced, one and all, with plastic -- and we'll fight
that fight when the moment is right (EPR for all containers).

As far as I'm concerned the risk of impeding paper recycling far
outweighs the benefit of 'recycling' glass containers into
drainrock.

My 2-cents (CDN) 

Helen.

At 01:02 PM 12/05/2002 -0500, Christine McCoy wrote:
> Hello
> All -
>  
> As someone who worked for the
> paper industry - I think it's important to separate recyclables when
> there is an issue of contamination, particularly when it comes to paper
> and glass.  Paper recycling is the backbone of many recovery
> programs and the move to single stream collection - commingling paper and
> glass - is a threat to increased recovery.  In fact, the process to
> pull it out before the machines is to source
> separate!!!
>  
> Collecting paper and glass
> together doesn't make any sense regardless of your sorting technology.
> Making a recycled sheet that will hold up to specifications is difficult
> enough without glass contamination. Wear and tear on the machinery is a
> issue, especially when you have million of dollars invested in equipment
> and facilities.  Dr. Burke is merely stating the obvious if we want
> to continue to recover paper and turn it into a usable product. 
>  
> I also know that companies like
> SP Newsprint and others do a lot to get glass out of their paper - but
> remember that glass shatters!  It's extremely difficult to remove
> slivers of glass from thousands of tons of recovered paper and/or
> machinery.  
>  
> If you don't think commingling
> glass and paper is problem, you may also want to remember that a lot of
> recovered paper is made into toilet tissue!!
>  
> Just my 2-cents!
>  
> Christine McCoy
>  
> ---------------
>  
> While Dr. Burke's comments that
> "Beverage containers, except for aluminum cans, are not
> recyclable" is the same line we all hear from people who look at
> recycling through a microscope rather than a wide-angle lens, his
> comments about paper making technology raise an interesting issue. 
> Dr. Burke highlights paper industry innovations such as  de-inking,
> wax removal, and getting floatable plastics out of the incoming material
> stream.  Rather than complaining about glass wearing down the
> machinery, how about creating a process to pull the glass out before it
> hits those machines?  The paper industry should face up to the fact
> that Americans love to recycle, especially paper.  The industry is
> going to have to deal with recycled fiber for the forseeable future, and
> the recycled fiber is likely to have some degree of glass
> contamination.  Quit crying about it and get that famous
> "American ingenuity"! ; to work! 
>
> Sharon Gates
> Recycling Specialist
> City of Long Beach, California
> 562/570-4694