The City of Launceston has released information about the municipality’s glass recycling process after a program on ABC revealed thousands of tonnes of glass is not recycled.
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Recycling company Polytrade bared the struggles faced by the industry on Monday’s episode of Four Corners.
Polytrade Rydalmere manager Nathan Ung told Four Corners the company was receiving more and more glass with nowhere for it to go, therefore glass was being stockpiled and landfilled.
In a video on the council’s Facebook page, waste and environment officer Michael Attard said glass made up about a third of the mass of yellow recycling bins.
Items placed in yellow bins were taken to a Tasmanian material recovery facility to be recycled.
“The glass that goes in there is about 2500 tonnes per year, and about 85 per cent of that can be recovered at the facility and about 15 percent of that is contaminated and needs to be processed in other ways,” Mr Attard said.
Nappies, green waste, and lids on glass bottles and jars were common types of contamination.
Glass that lands at the recovery facility was re-purposed as additives to asphalt and pavers.
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