A short version of glass recycling in France
— Alexis Iron
The story of glass-recycling started after the first oil shock, France had to save energy: recycling glass use less energy than virgin raw materials. In 1974 the glass industry launched with local government the first household glass collection.
Since recycling instructions look the same: all glass container are accepted. Year after year, the quality and quantity of glass recycling increased and today more than 7 bottles out of 10 are recycled. The key of this success is the access to the collection spots. The city councils created more than 150 000 points of collect to make sure all citizens can recycle glass. Once local and regional governments collected the glass, it had to be sorted. At that point, the glass becomes the responsibility of one of the 14 recycling centres in France.
The glass recycling success is largely driven by European Union waste laws. Ranked 12th in the European Union and slightly above average, France shows a good track record and a substantial progress but we are still behind Sweden or Switzerland. But above all, Europe has the ambitious target of 90% of glass recycling by the end of 2030.
Pioneer material of recycling and authentic material of “cradle to cradle” concept, glass is a powerful symbol. Each tonne of glass recycling saves one and half tonne of CO2, secures access to raw materials and creates jobs and economic growth. Recycling glass is one of the simplest and efficient eco-friendly gesture we can do.
