The study
An efficient glass collection and recycling scheme is an important driver to move towards a circular economy where waste is not dumped but become the essential raw materials used to manufacture new products.
In this study, available on FEVE’s website, the aim is to identify good practices in selective collection and closed-loop recycling of glass packaging waste from Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) across European regional and local authorities. ACR+ on behalf of the European Container Glass Federation (FEVE) conducted this research to identify good practices on glass packaging waste recycling and highlight some key results.
The strategic objective established for this project is to increase awareness and disseminate information on good practices of glass recycling with the aim to increase the quantity and quality of the cullet available.

Operational objectives
The following objectives were identified for this project:
•    what are the different types of glass recycling collection schemes operating across Europe?
•    which factors affect the success of an effective glass collection scheme?
•    evaluate the performance of the different glass collection schemes;
•    identify best practices for glass collection schemes leading to closed loop recycling (bottle to bottle).
The methodology of selective collection; quantity and quality of the glass waste ensuring closed-loop recycling were amongst the most important criteria to select the good practices. The case studies ...

The study
An efficient glass collection and recycling scheme is an important driver to move towards a circular economy where waste is not dumped but become the essential raw materials used to manufacture new products.
In this study, available on FEVE’s website, the aim is to identify good practices in selective collection and closed-loop recycling of glass packaging waste from Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) across European regional and local authorities. ACR+ on behalf of the European Container Glass Federation (FEVE) conducted this research to identify good practices on glass packaging waste recycling and highlight some key results.
The strategic objective established for this project is to increase awareness and disseminate information on good practices of glass recycling with the aim to increase the quantity and quality of the cullet available.

Operational objectives
The following objectives were identified for this project:
•    what are the different types of glass recycling collection schemes operating across Europe?
•    which factors affect the success of an effective glass collection scheme?
•    evaluate the performance of the different glass collection schemes;
•    identify best practices for glass collection schemes leading to closed loop recycling (bottle to bottle).
The methodology of selective collection; quantity and quality of the glass waste ensuring closed-loop recycling were amongst the most important criteria to select the good practices. The case studies were selected via different means such as: desk-based research, dissemination of case study template among ACR+ members, electronic questionnaires and literature reviews.
Eight case studies were selected for the purpose of this study. The Authorities chosen were:
Intradel - Liège Province (Belgium), Municipality of Graz (Austria), LIPOR, Greater Porto Intermunicipal Waste Company (Portugal), Municipality of Maastricht (Netherlands), Municipality of Lippe (Germany), Canton of Geneva (Switzerland), City of Grand Besançon (France), Municipality of Odense (Denmark).
For each case study, the following aspects were analyzed based on the available information:
•    legal context and responsibilities;
•    geographical content (urban, semi-urban, rural, touristic and/or historical centres);
•    financial context and incentives;
•    identification of the statistical methodologies and indicators used to assess the recycling performances;
•    efficient collection schemes (kerbside, bottle banks, deposit schemes and other types of schemes) including sectorial differences for glass collection (commercial, household) and/or colour-separate glass collection versus mixed glass collection;
•    innovation in glass collectionschemes and processes;
•    costs and funding;
•    quality criteria for glass waste sent to recycling (contamination levels);
•    value chain from glass waste collection to recycling process (interaction between collectors, EPR schemes and recyclers);
•    communication: education, raising awareness amongst households and other targets.

Glass recycling in Europe
Within the framework of the EU Strategy ‘Europe as a Recycling Society’ each Member state is mandated to follow the Waste Framework Directive and meet the statutory recycling target of 50 per cent of municipal solid waste. Also as part of the Packaging Waste Directive, each member state should meet separate packaging waste targets. For glass packaging waste, the recycling target is 60.
According to the latest glass packaging recycling estimates more than 67 per cent of glass bottles and jars were collected for recycling in the European Union in 2009. The figures released by FEVE, the EU Container Glass Federation, translate into about 11 million tonnes or 25 billion glass bottles and jars being collected throughout the European Union, confirming the steady and positive trend of the last years (66 per cent in 2008). According to our eight case studies, the average recycling rate for glass containers reaches: 81 per cent.
The selected case studies are based on the quality outputs i.e. the glass packaging waste originating from the selective collection systems that is of sufficient quality to be easily recycled and not on the volume of inputs i.e. the total amount of glass recovered. The research demonstrates that by sorting glass packaging waste from other waste flows, generally provides a high quantity and quality material for recycling and these cases were prioritized in this study. In the study, the glass waste selectively collected varies from case to case: 13 kilos/inhabitant/year (in Porto) - 47 kilos/inhabitant/year (in the Canton of Geneva), underlying the differences not only in performance but also in glass packaging use, as well as the existence of deposit schemes competing with municipal collection.
The selective collection for glass waste ranges from 59 per cent to 95 per cent for the selected case studies. The local glass recycling rate figures have been calculated by dividing the amount of glass waste selectively collected by the amount of glass waste generated in each region or city selected (based on tonnes). The latter figure is however not always available or difficult to estimate. Transboundary imports and exports not registered (e.g. consumers bringing back in one country bottles bought in another country) may also influence the result.

The selective collection methods vary across Europe
The study identified four main selective collection schemes: door-to-door, bottle banks, civic amenity centres and glass deposit schemes. Additionally, for marginal quantities mainly from hospitality sector, some collection on request schemes were identified.
The collection is either separated by colour or mixed. A sample of this variety is shown in the three following examples.
In Porto, glass collections commenced in 1980 and, today, the inter-municipality provides a selection of ways for residents to recycle their glass packaging, through: door-to-door, bring banks or ‘Ecopontos’, Civic Amenity centres and glass on request. In 2010, around 1,148.48 tonnes of glass were collected on request (for non-household origin).
The municipality of Lippe in Germany which started glass collection in the early 1980s operates a ‘3 tier’ colour-sorted waste glass system for: amber, clear, green is effectively applied, whereby bottle banks are available for each colour type of glass bottle. Lippe reaches a glass selective collection of 27 kilos per inhabitant per year.
The Canton of Geneva in Switzerland has been operating a glass recycling scheme since 1986 and, today, it provides 567 bottle banks located in the 45 communes (one bottle bank per 820 inhabitants). Glass selective collection reaches 47 kilos per inhabitant per year. The total amount of glass packaging collected in 2009 was 20,935 tonnes from both the commercial and household premises. The type of glass collection is dual for: clear and coloured glass.
In Denmark, on average, glass bottles are collected mixed, as the glass is separated by colour mechanically at the treatment plants. The Danish government and the municipalities believe this is more cost-efficient and economically viable solution.

Container deposit schemes across Europe
There are two types of container deposit schemes existing in Europe:
•    Refillable container deposit scheme (on reusable drink container). A refillable deposit scheme is a scheme whereby the glass container, once emptied is returned to an authorized shop or deposited in a container, that will be then be sanitized and refilled to be placed back again in the market.  In Denmark, Germany and Sweden, refillable glass drink containers represent a significant share of the glass drink container market with: Denmark at 80 per cent, Germany at 51 per cent, and Sweden at 47 per cent in 2006.
•    Recycling container deposit scheme (on one-way containers) Recycling deposit schemes cover only a minority of container tonnage, the highest being Germany at 3 per cent until recently. The share of these schemes in the overall packaging recycling rate varies from 1 per cent (in the Netherlands, where the system is recent) to almost 5 per cent (in Sweden).
During this study we identified three different container deposit schemes in:
•    Lippe (DE): A compulsory deposit scheme is in operation for different types of bottles. Once put through the deposit system, the consumer receives directly 8 or 15 cents per bottle (EUR 0.08 or 0.15);
•    Maastricht (NL): Deposit systems are in use for beer bottles, drink containers in Maastricht. The price of bottled beers and soft drinks includes a small deposit that is refundable on returning the empty containers (EUR 0.10);
•    Odense (DK): In Denmark, the container deposit refund for the consumer is:
•    Cans, glass and plastic bottles under 1 litre (Pant A): 13 cents (DKK 1.00);
•    Plastic bottles of 0.5 litres (Pant B): 20 cents (DKK 1.50);
•    Cans, glass and plastic bottles of 1 litre and over (Pant C): 40 cents (DKK 3.00).
The take back is mainly organized by reverse vending machines, except in the smaller outlets. Machines also accept labelled packaging even if the shop in which it is located does not itself sell the product.
Funding & Finance: collections costs and their coverage are key parameters
The financing of glass waste collection systems varies from one country to another and plays a key role in glass waste recycling performance, generally with the support of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes.
For example the Belgian EPR system for packaging is coordinated by Fost Plus which is a private organization that promotes and finances the selective collection, sorting, and recycling of household packaging waste in Belgium, including glass. Fost Plus, has the legal obligation to cover the full costs incurred by the municipalities for packaging collection including:
•    cost for glass collection – value of the material;
•    cost for follow up by inter-municipalities;
•    cost for communication material.
In Portugal, the EPR System is coordinated by Sociedade Ponto Verde, S.A., an organization responsible for the collection and recycling of household, commercial and industrial packaging waste. All glass received by LIPOR is sent for recycling by Ponto Verde.
In the case of Odense, in Denmark, the Extended Producer Responsibility is not applied as it has not been adopted by national legislation.
Across all good practice case studies, the glass selective collection costs vary from EUR 51 (Intradel) to EUR 125 (Canton of Geneva) per tonne and this is due to different parameters taken into consideration when calculating those costs: The collection costs for the municipality includes administrative (including communications), collection/handling and transportation of glass packaging waste to the recycling facility.

Permanent innovation for glass selective collection
Though glass waste was one the first waste flows to be selectively collected already in the 1980s, there have been major improvements and innovation in order to improve the quantity and quality of the glass waste collected as well as increase the comfort of citizens-sorters. Innovation plays a key role to ensure high levels of selectively collected glass packaging waste.
In Belgium and Austria, the underground bottle banks located in parks, near shopping centres and residential establishments, have shown to increase the quantity and quality of glass waste collected.
In the United Kingdom, new technologies have been developed in the hospitality sector (restaurants, hotels, bars and pubs) such as glass crushers in order to reduce the volume of waste glass being generated due to lack of space in the premises. One solution to the storage problem is to compact the glass on site (using a glass compactor unit). This reduces the amount of space required to store the empty bottles and/or the frequency of collections required.
Cultural habits must be taken into account when analyzing results as they play a key role in the performance of glass waste collections. Germany and Austria have historically higher consumption levels of both coloured and clear glass: colour-coded sorting at source was implemented to enable the production of a sufficient quantity of white cullet.

Glass waste selective collection can count on original and efficient ommunication at local level
Communication material acts as a catalyst for the effectiveness of the glass selective collection schemes and additional illustrations and photos on guides and brochures ensure for better quality of the glass waste collected on a local level.
The municipalities have also been focusing on communicating the importance of glass recycling to schools (i.e. ‘Bottle Recycling Heroes’ in Austria) and community groups.
European container glass manufacturers – through FEVE – support “Friends of Glass” – a self-fed European consumer community of more than 20,000 people that supports and promotes consumers’ rights to be able to choose food and drink products in glass packaging.
A number of enticing tools are available on the multi-language website www.friendsofglass.com – such as Hank the Singing Bottle, the Bottle Bank Test and the Pass the Bottle Facebook game. They have the objective to increase consumer awareness on the fact that glass is 100 per cent,
infinitely and locally recyclable in a ‘bottle-to-bottle’ system, and that glass recycling is therefore sustainably sound. Friends of Glass was initiated in 2009 in response to a pan-European survey commissioned by FEVE to the research institute InSites, which found that 74 per cent of European consumers prefer glass packaging for their food and drinks.

Low contamination rates and involvement of recyclers
From a technical and market perspective, glass manufacturers set up key criteria for glass waste with either the municipality or the glass packaging association and waste contractors to ensure higher efficiencies which effectively adds more pressure to the regional and local authorities to ensure a high quality of glass waste is achieved. In most of the cases, it is strongly advised that ceramic, stone (heat-resistant glass), light bulbs and other types of glass are strictly not disposed in the bottle banks as they have a higher melting point than glass containers.
Throughout the study it has been noticed that the traceability of the glass packaging waste can be difficult as the glass waste collected from the municipalities gets delivered to the glass manufacturer (sometimes via transit stations) in bulk. Thus, to obtain information about potential origins of contamination from specific loads of glass waste can be limited.

Conclusions
The study confirms that glass collected separately from other materials provides the highest quality feedstock. Colour separation at source or implementation of state-of-the-art technology to separate colours after collection are the best options to achieve the required standards ready for recycling by a glass maker. New technology also exists which allows for colour separation after collection.
The collection system varies from region to region and the study calls on all relevant stakeholders to work closely together to develop guidelines that will assist the municipalities, waste contractors and glass manufacturers to achieve a better quality cullet, so as to reduce the amount of virgin raw materials used in glassmaking.

Glass current performance results in the EU
According to FEVE, the packaging glass generation, mainly of bottles, flacons, jars for food and beverages has increased from 17,379,507 (2000) to 19,901,925 (2010) million tonnes across the EU27 with some great fluctuations in 2009 due to the financial market crisis.
Based on EUROSTAT’s statistical data, the glass packaging waste generation per inhabitant has steadily increased since 1998. In the EU-15, the glass packaging waste generated was 37 kilos per inhabitant in 2008, whereas in the 12 Member States which joined the EU after 2004, it amounted to only 19 kilos per inhabitant. The gap between the countries is rather wide. Finland has the smallest amount within the EU-15 with 11 kilos per inhabitant. The glass packaging generated in the case of Romania amounts to only 9 kilos per capita for 2008 while Luxembourg and France have the highest level of glass packaging generated with 55 kilos per capita and 49 kilos per capita respectively.
There is a very wide range of quantity of packaging glass generated between the various Member States. The development over time is also very different. Some countries such as Belgium, the United Kingdom, Slovenia or Poland experience an increase whereas other countries such as Denmark, France or Bulgaria see a decline. In 2009, according to FEVE, the average glass selective collection rate for the EU27 reached 67.4 per cent and nearly 11.5 million tonnes of glass packaging were collected all over Europe (including Norway, Switzerland and Turkey).
It is interesting to demonstrate the price of glass cullet sold in the market over a period of 10 years (2000 – 2010).
The price of secondary materials (such as glass cullet) is highly influenced by the price of raw materials and thus by the overall economic development. The revenues from secondary materials pay for a substantial part of the waste management schemes. The price of glass cullet has increased over the years as the amount put on the market has also increased. The average price of glass cullet over the years is 42.6 Euro/tonne.

Study on choosing and improving glass collection services
Following a study carried out by WRAP on “Choosing and improving your glass collection service” in 2008, it is highlighted that: collecting glass colour separated will deliver the quality of glass required by the remelt industry; if a Local Authority is already colour-sorting it should avoid changing the method of collection; if a Local Authority is unable to collect glass completely colour separated, it should keep clear glass separate from other streams. In the United Kingdom, approximately 2.7 million tonnes of glass waste gets collected each year, with an increased proportion collected as mixed-colour. For a Local Authority to choose which collection methodology to introduce, various factors need to be taken into account: including financial benefits, ease of collection, environmental and reputational benefits. Also, the services a Local Authority has in place and the location of relevant end markets. Good practice glass collection requires an understanding of the various collection options and their associated costs and benefits.