[New Zealand] Recycling Improves, But Usage Rates Drop

Less than half of the glass put out for recycling comes back to the shelves as new bottles, as increasing amounts are sent instead to be crushed. Latest figures released by the Glass Packaging Forum show extra glass from increasingly enthusiastic recycling efforts since 2004 is being mopped up by crushers, which turn it into aggregate for building and roads, filtration systems and agricultural materials. The industry has beaten a voluntary goal of recycling 55% of glass by the middle of 2009, but while New Zealanders are recycling 64% of glass, less of it is being turned into new bottles. O-I and recycling company Visey are currently building an optical sorting plant to try to increase the rate of glass recovery.