GLASS RECYCLING OPTIONS IN NEW ZEALAND JOHN WEBBER

GLASS RECYCLING OPTIONS IN NEW ZEALAND JOHN WEBBER – GLASS PACKAGING FORUM ANDREW SLACK – TBL SOLUTIONS PIP CHRYSTALL – TBL SOLUTIONS

AGENDA How is glass currently recycled in New Zealand? What are the options for use of excess recycled glass? What are the options for collection of recycled glass? Palmerston North City Council experience. Castle. Bin collection system.

PROJECT TEAM Glass Packaging Forum Palmerston North City Council TBL Solutions

the glass story manufacture sell and consume recycle glass CLOSE THE LOOP glass can be recycled over & over but the quality must be good sort & decontaminate glass In theory glass can be recycled indefinitely by re-melting and forming into new products in a “closed loop”

glass recycling - target - quality TARGET QUALITY COLOUR SORTED amber recycled glass green recycled glass flint (clear) recycled glass The recycled glass must be colour sorted and free of contamination for glass re-manufacture

glass bottle manufacture Key steps in manufacture are: 1. Batch Feeding 4. Bottle Making 7. Warehousing 2. Glass Melting 5. Quality control 8. Distribution 3. Gob Forming 6. Palletisation

glass bottle manufacture The recycled glass must be colour sorted and free of contamination for glass re-manufacture

recycled glass specification colour sorted only container glass no contamination other glass – window glass, light bulbs etc metal other There is a current rejection rate of about 2. 5% at Visy Glass Recycling in Auckland

benefits of glass recycling waste prevention There are significant economic and environmental benefits for recycling glass The priority for glass is the maximising of recycling and minimising of disposal to landfill re-use recycle / compost energy recovery disposal

benefits of glass recycling CONSERVE RESOURCES CONSERVE ENERGY Every tonne of cullet replaces 1. 2 tonnes of raw materials and prevents more than ½ tonne of CO² Melting recycled glass uses 10% less energy GLASS RECYCLING Environmental Benefits REDUCE WASTE Glass recycling reduces waste and valuable landfill space. It saves on waste disposal costs REDUCE GREEN HOUSE GAS In 2005 glass recycling saved 350, 000 tonnes of CO² in the UK. Overall recycling reduces CO² emissions by over 50%

recycling packaging in NZ increasing 80 70 60 Glass Paper Plastics Steel Aluminium 50 40 30 20 10 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 0 1994 % Total Produced (by weight) NZ Packaging Recycling Year In 2006 53% glass, 76% paper and 62% aluminium was recycled in New Zealand

packaging accord targets achievable Recovery (%) Accord Target Aluminium 62% 65% Glass 53% 55% Paper 76% 70% Plastics 22% 23% Steel 57% 43% Total 57% Material Targets for paper and steel have been met and aluminium, glass and plastics recovery are close to target

typical composition of kerbside recycling Palmerston North Recycling 2006/2007 by Weight Paper & Cardboard Glass Plastic Metals After paper and cardboard, glass is the second most significant recycled material by weight at around 25%

recycled glass is supplied under regional quotas by 12 principal suppliers There are 74 local authorities (18 city councils and 58 district councils) in New Zealand. The Ministry for the Environment reports that 92% of rural residents and 97% of urban residents have access to recycling services.

a high proportion of recycled glass comes from Auckland less from the South Island Glass Recycling by Region Auckland Other N. I. S. I. Population by Region - 2006 Auckland Other N. I. S. I.

There are 22 countries recycling…. . New Zealand has a higher glass recycling rate than Australia, UK and the USA but lower than most of Europe. The topography of New Zealand low population means that our task is much more difficult. England collects the same amount as New Zealand. 7 countries collect less than New Zealand. 13 countries collect more than New Zealand.

glass recycling issues…. . Excess recycled glass with glass “mountains” in the South Island in isolated spots around New Zealand. Increasing transport costs to Auckland for glass sorting and re-manufacture. Increasing contamination of glass from increased uptake of fully compacted co-mingled kerbside collection. Decreasing net quality glass from the Auckland region.

glass recycling issues…. . Lack of accurate data on glass recycling (and other recycling) in New Zealand with no accurate and central data collection. The Glass Packaging Forum commissioned TBL Solutions to provide a comprehensive and independent review of glass recycling. Key components included: current glass recycling behaviour in NZ including a nationwide questionnaire. overview of alternative uses of recycled glass in NZ with case studies. Analysis of glass collection options in NZ.

glass recycling issues…. . This was conducted in partnership with Palmerston North City Council who intend to collect glass as a separate stream. The core team was Andrew Slack, Anne Billing and Pip Crystall from TBL Solutions www. tblsolutions. co. nz

glass questionnaire A glass recycling questionnaire was issued to all 74 local authorities and covered: Glass collection Glass sorting Glass transport Glass issues Glass stockpiles Glass alternative uses Available from the Glass Forum’s website www. glassforum. org. nz

glass questionnaire 34 or 45% of local authorities participated in the trial 67% participants have a kerbside collection for glass – 23% have a shopping bag collection system – 26% have a crate based system – 8% have a wheelie bin based recycling collection – 47% separate glass in the collection – 53% have a co-mingled collection 73% participants have drop off collection for glass 29% participating local authorities subsidised the collection of glass specifically 70% of recycling is funded by rates, 5% have a “user pays” funded system and 1 participant funded the recycling from landfill revenue

glass questionnaire 17% participants have specialist bottlebank systems for glass 23% participants have glass stockpiles amounting to an estimated 8, 300 tonnes 29% participants have used recycled glass for another purpose 17% participants have crushed glass and 12% have used in aggregate.

options for excess recycled glass High Volume Low Cost Stockpile Options for Excess Glass Landfill Low Volume High Cost

options for excess recycled glass High volume – low value High value – low volume Base course and sub base Insulation Glassphalt Golf bunkers Glasscrete Sand blasting Backfill Filtration Landfill cover Paint pigment Drainage Tiles and bricks Mulch

case study – PNCC – 5% recycled glass aggregate In partnership with Higgins Aggregates and Fullcircle, Palmerston North City Council has bee using all excess recycled glass from PN in a 5% crushed glass aggregate mix during 2006/07. Being cost effective compared to long term landfill charges this is a sustainable use of excess recycled glass for the region. From 1 July 2007 the Council has paid Higgins Aggregates $30/tonne to generate the 5% glass aggregate. This is less than the local landfill charge - $95/tonne.

case study – Higgins Aggregate Preparation Process is as follows: Phase 1 : Pre-crush to 40 mm Phase 2 : Blend/10 mm Crush Phase 3 : Blend to 5% Pre crush glass to 40 mm using only jaw crusher Blend crushed glass with feedstock e. g. p-metal in a 50/50 ratio and crush down to 10 mm. Back to normal production cycle of M 4 base course, blend 10% of 10 mm crushed glass feedstock into product during manufacture giving final product with 5% crushed glass. Allows easy blending. Product more homogonous and gives opportunity to hand pick out rubbish. All blending is done by weight and uses on board weighing that is accurate to within 2%

case study – PNCC – 5% recycled glass aggregate 1, 200 tonnes per annum of glass is recycled in Palmerston North. Glass is collected as a separate stream in Palmerston North into a split truck. This unique process was developed by Higgins Aggregates and is a relatively cost effective process compared to other crushing processes. Contamination is removed before the crushing process.

case study – PNCC – 5% recycled glass aggregate excess recycled glass cycle track 5% crushed glass aggregate building foundation road

results – roading project – Brooklyn Heights 2007 compaction testing 5% glass aggregate road A long term test of 5% recycled glass aggregate is being undertaken in Palmerston North in a new subdivision. Half the road has a glass aggregate base course and the other half has no glass. The roading team will undertake long term monitoring to test road performance.

case study – mobile crusher

case study – mobile crusher Modified Transit New Zealand spec and successful foundations trials provide opportunities for local use of crushed cullet. There are not crushing facilities readily available at all collection locations. The Forum determined at the end of 2006 that a mobile crusher would provide additional opportunities. With significant (part) sponsorship from Lion Nathan an appropriate machine was purchased.

case study – mobile crusher The operation of the machine is to be undertaken by Silaca Crushers with administration from the Forum. The machine was successfully launched at Parliament by the Minister for the Environment, David Parker and the Environmental spokesperson for the Green Party, Nandor Tanczos. Initial trials very successful and itinerary for the South Island planned.

options for collecting recycled glass Glass Collection Options Single Stream Glass Collection kerbside sorting drop-off bottle banks separate collection Co-mingled Glass Collection multi co-mingled binsplit bin waste & recycling compartment bin

trends in glass collection 95% to 100% fully co-mingled in Australia - ease of use - increased volumes - improved health and safety Australia (44%) has a lower glass recovery than New Zealand (53%). Auckland Christchurch moving to fully co-mingled. Normally separate (bottle bank) collection and CDL in Europe to achieve 70 – 90% glass recovery.

kerbside recycling equation Recycling Cost Collection Cost + Processing Cost + Transport Cost + Other Cost -- Recovered Revenue All recycling in New Zealand is subsidised by local authorities As landfill costs rise it makes recycling more economically viable There are other community and environmental benefits of recycling (other than dollars) An analysis of recycling must include the product life cycle. The recycled material must be of required quality for its end use (re-manufacture of glass containers)

multi criteria analysis Recycling Collection Multi-Criteria Analysis 1. Environmental Factors 2. Community Factors 3. Economic Factors Environmental Factor 1. Recycling volumes 2. Glass recovery rates 3. Pest & wind control Community Factors Economic Factors 1. Convenience and ease of handling 2. Litter control 3. Health and safety (collection & household) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Overall capital investment On-going operating costs Relative collection cost Relative sorting/processing cost Glass cross contamination System wear and tear Palmerston North City Council has used a multi-criteria analysis to determine that a separate glass collection using bottle banks and / or bins is the best long term solutions for glass collection.

co-mingled glass - kerbside Normally fortnightly collection in 240 litre MWB Higher volumes Improved health and safety Ease of use and proven 240 litre MWB High glass breakage in compactions above 120 kg/m³ Higher cross and waste contamination Mixed glass (waste) fines from co-mingled MRF Around $100/hh/year

separate glass - kerbside 45 to 70 litre recycling crate colour sorted glass shopping bags clean colour sorted bags

separate glass – drop off Wanganui Gisborne

separate glass – bottlebanks United Kingdom Switzerland MOLOK - Switzerland France

bottlebanks SWI Collected Cullet – kg/capita 40 35 GER FRA 30 25 AUS 20 NETH DEN ITA SWE SPA PORT 15 UK 10 FIN 5 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000 No of Inhabitants per Collection Point Increasing the density of bottle banks to around one per 1, 500 people significantly increased the glass recovery.

castlebin – separate glass Glass in bottom compartment Other material (paper, cardboard, metals and plastics) mixed in top Automatic side armed truck separates into two compartments. Glass in bottom (non-compacted tray) Other material compacted to over 200 kg/m³)

Castle. Bin – separate glass No cross contamination Greater glass recovery Greater compaction of other material Flexibility of MWB system H & S of MWB systems Estimated that some overall cost of existing fully co-mingled system Suspect long term savings - Lower MRF capital - Lower MRF wear and tear

case study – Palmerston North Castle. Bin The sample size was 350 households from a population of 27, 500. This sample size is predicted to provide around a 5% margin of error. Each trial area was split into 3. Each trial was run fro 12 weeks – 3 weeks on shopping bags (control period) and 3 weeks on each of the 3 new methods. 3 WEEKS GROUP 1 RC CB WB GROUP 2 WB RC CB GROUP 3 CB WB RC 3 WEEKS SHOPPING BAGS

Kg case study – Palmerston North Castle. Bin 8. 0 7. 0 6. 0 5. 0 4. 0 3. 0 2. 0 1. 0 0. 0 Kerbside Recycling Yield (kg/household/week) Shopping Bags Recycling Crates Standard MWB Castle Bin 1 Recycling Method Greatly increased overall recycling yield from MWB systems compared to shopping bags.

case study – Palmerston North Castle. Bin Total Recycling Trial Preferences Shopping Bags Recycling Crates Wheelie Bins Multi Bins 90% of trial participants preferred a MWB system. 60% of trial participants preferred the Castle. Bin.

case study – Palmerston North Castle. Bin Sort Time 80. 0 70. 0 Material 60. 0 50. 0 40. 0 30. 0 20. 0 10. 0 Total P&C Plastic Glass Minutes The relative sort time for the Castle. Bin was half the standard MWB Metals Shopping Bags Recycling Crates Standard MWB Castle Bin

case study – Palmerston North Castle. Bin 400 Total Residual Waste 350 300 kg 250 200 150 100 50 0 Waste Recycling Method The residual waste for the Castle. Bin was less than half the standard MWB. Shopping Bags Recycling Crates Standard MWB Castle Bin

case study – Palmerston North Castle. Bin New Recycling Collection System Shopping Bags Dedicated Recyclers (30%) Possible Recyclers (40%) Unlikely & Never (30%) The east of use of MWB systems allows the recovery from the 40% possible recyclers to increase. Palmerston North has a goal to increase recycling to around 50% (compared to waste by weight) by 2012.

Castle. Bin – next steps Partnership to develop commercial Castle. Bin and collection truck. - Palmerston North City Council (phase in over 2 -3 years) - Andrew Slack – Project Manager - Glen Castle – inventor – Design - Craig Dias – Project Worxs – Plastic Injection Moulding - Noel Burgess – IPSC) – Design / Truck The Bin has an international patent. It is expected to get a commercial truck on road in 2 years after 3 versions with the initial side arm loader in the workshop, an initial truck prototype.

further information John Webber Glass Packaging Forum Email john@glassforum. org. nz Mobile 021 949 215 Website www. glassforum. org. nz Andrew Slack TBL Solutions Email andrew. slack@tblsolutions. co. nz Mobile 021 267 1788 Email andrew. slack@pncc. govt. nz