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Recycling Britain's Glass Mountain

2nd January 2007

Pubs, clubs, hotels and restaurants in Britain contribute to the dumping of more than half a million tonnes of glass each year. That's enough glass to see a line of beer bottles stretch 10 times around the Earth.

Only six percent of these are recycled, the rest go to landfill but now a major waste company is trying to stop this unnecessary loss of valuable resources and energy.

"We're having a push to stop this crazy situation," said Peter Clayson, from Biffa, which has launched its new glass recycling service in the West Midlands, South Wales and the M1 Corridor (Derby, Nottingham and Sheffield).

It's not the first time that such a service has been attempted by the waste industry. Previous schemes failed after retailers had problems sorting glass by colour and heavily subsidised initiatives failed once the subsidy ran out.

But increases in landfill tax mean that its now cheaper to recycle than it is to landfill and glass reprocessors have invested heavily in technology to sort bottles into their different colours, which means pubs don't have to.

"We've already trialed this in London, Manchester and Leeds," Peter added. "And it's been a great success. It's worked so well that we're now launching the service in the West Midlands. We know we can make recycling easy and cost effective for companies."

For further details about Biffa's glass recycling service call free on 0800 601 601.