The Glass Packaging Institute (GPI) has issued a statement addressing a recent report published by the Northeast Recycling Council (NERC), which showed the majority of food and beverage container glass collected in single stream recycling programs in the Northeast region of the U.S. and the province of Quebec are used for alternative daily cover (ADC) at landfills.
GPI President Scott DeFife has issued the following statement: “GPI was pleased to see the NERC report released last week, which acknowledges data showing the majority of single-stream recycled glass containers are being used as ADC for landfills in the Northeast, instead of reaching glass manufacturers to recycle into new containers. For years, GPI has been working to make policymakers and recycling stakeholders aware of this ongoing challenge, and we thank NERC for highlighting this issue.
“GPI agrees with the report’s conclusion that more investment in glass recycling infrastructure would help decrease material contamination, and increase the volume of quality glass suitable to be recycled into new containers. ADC should only be allowed after all other end market options for glass sorted by Materials Recovery Facilities (MRFs) are explored. Local governments and states should re-consider providing any diversion or recycling credits to entities using glass as a landfill cover substitute, or for disposal of glass in any similar manner.
“Clean source-separated glass from the region’s deposit return programs has good, positive end markets, and GPI recommends states with bottle bill recycling programs expand to include as much glass beverage packaging as possible. This will allow existing networks of bottle processing facilities to get more of the region’s post-consumer glass back into the supply chain. Any state without a deposit return system should consider one if they are also considering extended producer responsibility policy.
“Lastly, the states in the region should consider a regional compact to assist in the siting and support for new multimodal regional glass processing facilities that can handle MRF glass, to deal with the region’s non-bottle bill glass.
“Consumers strongly support glass recycling and want to see more glass packaging options on store shelves. As a leading stakeholder, GPI looks forward to continuing its work in the Northeast and across North America to improve glass recycling programs, which are critical to a circular economy.”