RIPPLE GLASS

Why recycle glass?

Here are some important facts you should know about glass recycling.

• Container glass is 100% recyclable, can be recycled endlessly, and is a primary ingredient in fiberglass insulation and new glass containers.
• Burying perfectly good glass in the landfill wastes all the material, energy and labor that went into making it.
• Using recycled glass produces 20% less air pollution and 50 % less water pollution than creating new glass (or fiberglass) from raw materials.
• Every ton of glass that's recycled results in more than one ton of raw materials saved.  That's 1,300 lbs.of sand, 410 lbs. of soda ash, 380 lbs. of limestone and 150 lbs. of feldspar.
• Recycling just one glass bottle saves enough electricity to light a 100-watt light bulb for four hours. (Imagine how long it would light a compact fluorescent!)
• A six-pack of recycled beer bottles produces enough fiberglass insulation to fill a standard wall cavity.
• Kansas Citians consume approximately 80,000 tons of container glass each year.  In the past, because of the difficulty and inconvenience, only about 5% was recycled. (Nationally, the average recycling rate is nearly 30% and climbing; in many places int he world, it's north of 90%!)
• Glass isn't collected in area curbside recycling programs and for good reason. When mixed with other recyclables, broken glass degrades and contaminates those materials, causing them to be "downcycled" into lower quality products.

The Purple Ripple Glass Recycling Container is found behind the Mid-Continent Library parking lot in Parkville.  www.rippleglasskc.com