How long it takes to degrade glass

The glass takes to degrade from about 4,000 years to more than 5,000 years. Within the different waste that human beings generate in greater quantity, glass is the one that has the longest time in nature. To see this difference more clearly, let’s put some examples of common waste and their degradation or permanence time in nature:

• Paper: 1 year.
• Cigarette butts: 1-2 years.
• Chewing gum: 5 years.
• Refresco cans: 200-500 years.

You can discover more about how long the waste or waste is degraded here.

As we can imagine, these high times of permanence in the nature of the waste involve numerous environmental problems. Specifically, some of the most common risks or dangers for the most common environment are water, soil and, in general, ecosystems and the entire planet, as well as the loss of biodiversity of different organisms, which suffer from diseases or even death as a result of being in contact with this residue.

The Importance of glass recycling is that it is a 100% recyclable material. Therefore, we can say that glass It has infinite lives And recycling it will be a great benefit, both to facilitate its management and residue, as well as to reduce the extraction of the materials that constitute it.

In addition, the glass does not lose its quality no matter how reuse or recycled hundreds of times and, knowing the slow degradation of the glass and the possible agents linked to the glass pollutionit is really essential to do good recycling management. There are numerous specific examples and data that allow us to see more clearly why it is important to recycle glass, including the saving of the energy necessary to load the battery of a smartphone for 1 year and that of a tablet for 10 months; with the simple recycling of 3 glass bottles. In this other article you can learn much more about why it is important to recycle glass.

Let’s see in the next sections of the article some tricks and ideas for recycle and reuse glassand thus achieve energy saving and other benefits associated with glass recycling.

Manage in a sustainable and responsible way the Glass waste that we generate does not consist exclusively in recycling it, but through its reuse we will be more efficiently collaborating with the optimal consumption of this material. Thanks to their homogeneous and inorganic resistance and structure, glass containers can have a new life and different uses within our own home. Among some of the most common and ingenious forms of Reuse glass stand out:

• Use them to store liquids (oil, vinegar, water, etc.).
• In the pantry, as food containers, such as legumes, cookies and pasta.
• In the fridge to store sauces.
• Use glass boats as a tupper or cold room to wear salads or cereals with yogurt when eating away from home.
• In decoration, they can be used as vases and centers with flowers, such as candle holder or with sandalwood sticks to perfume.

Discover here more simple ideas to recycle glass bottles.

When recycling the glass we must go to the green containerin which the various types of glass containers that we use in our day to day are collected only and exclusively. Next, we indicate what should be deposited specifically in this container, since sometimes we can doubt what residues and materials are in each container, as is usually the case with the tapas of the boots and glass bottles, are they in the green container or in the yellow? Let’s get out of doubt:

What can be recycled in the green container

• Yes: bottles, jars and glass jars.
• No: caps or tapas (they must be deposited in the yellow container); Crystals (glasses, glasses or bulbs, you will have to take them to the nearest clean point) and porcelain or ceramics (plates or cups that you should also leave at a green or clean point).

When preparing the glass that we will subsequently deposit in the green container for its optimal management as a residue, it is important to make a previous separation at home. To do this, the most common is the use of an exclusive garbage bucket for the Glass containers recyclingas well as try to eliminate as much as possible, the liquid and other remains that may have remained as residues in the bottles and glass packaging that we are recycling.

On the other hand, if instead of opting for the Glass recycling at home We prefer to make use of the points of returnable glass bottles, we can always inform ourselves about the closest places (store, bar, machines, etc.), in which this ingenious method of recycling glass containers is carried out.

Finally, we recommend this other post of ecology see on how to recycle glass.

If you want to read more articles similar to How long it takes to degrade glasswe recommend that you enter our recycling and waste management category.