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“To what extent is the recycling of glass becoming significant in the
development of green energies in Europe? Comparative analysis
between the UK and other European countries”.
Dissertation in partial fulfillment for a BA in International Business (with Spanish) by:
Stanislas S. Emsens (S00500375)
Supervisor: Marcelo Paulucci
Word Count Body: 10347 (Including Headings etc.)
Date Of Submission: 1st
May 2015
I declare this is my own unaided work ____________________ Stanislas S. Emsens
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I. Acknowledgments
“Marcelo
Paulucci”
I would like to thank Marcelo, my supervisor, for guiding and supporting me
throughout the creation of this dissertation.
“Michael Oyelere”
I would like to show my appreciation to Michael for the several meeting he took with
me in order to show me the right pathways that where necessary.
“Jacques Emsens”
A special thanks to my father for the guidance he gave me through the creation of this
dissertation.
“Christian Deltenre“
This dissertation would have not been possible without the help of Christian. He’s
knowledge and contacts proved to be crucial to the development of this research
paper. A great amount of his time was sacrificed to help me, therefore an exceptional
thank you is in order.
“My Friends”
The biggest thank you of all goes to my friends, who have supported and pushed me
through those difficult times. All this could not have been accomplished without
them.
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II. Confidentiality
This dissertation was made to obtain a degree. This research paper is solely for the
purpose of the examiner marking this paper for Regent’s University as well as my
supervisor Marcelo Paulucci. The content of this dissertation are as a consequence
strictly confidential. Thus, the content of this paper can under circumstance be
published or distributed.
Confidential information means that the content of the dissertation will under any
circumstance not be shared with anyone else then the people mentioned above.
Unless, the author, gives a written permission the parties agree that:
• All information will be kept strictly confidential
• The content of this dissertation will remain solely in the property of Regents
University and the author
• The dissertation will only be used for the purpose of the partial fulfillment for the
degree of BA International Business by the author
• The University solely has this dissertation for marking purposes
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III. Table of Contents
I.
Acknowledgments
..........................................................................................................
2
II.
Confidentiality
...............................................................................................................
3
III.
Table
Of
Contents
…………………………………………………………………………………4
IV.
List
of
Tables
and
Figures
.........................................................................................
7
V.
Abbreviations
.................................................................................................................
8
VI.
Vocabulary
.....................................................................................................................
9
VII.
Abstract
......................................................................................................................
10
Chapter
1
–
Introduction
..............................................................................................
11
1.1 Introduction......................................................................................................11
1.2 Aims and Objectives ........................................................................................13
1.3 Methods.............................................................................................................14
1.4 Significance of the study..................................................................................14
1.5 Limitations........................................................................................................14
Chapter
2
-‐
Literature
Review
....................................................................................
15
2.1 Introduction to Literature Review .................................................................15
2.2 Sources of energy .............................................................................................15
2.3 What is “Green energy” and “Green powers”..............................................16
2.4 Reasons behind the increased concern in the environment .........................17
2.7 Reasons why governments are pushing people to recycle............................18
2.8 Glass manufacturing from raw materials process........................................19
2.9 The glass recycling process .............................................................................20
2.10 Problems of Glass recycling (UK) ................................................................23
2.10 Households in the and their Recycling (UK)...............................................24
2.11 Conclusion of Literature review...................................................................24
Chapter
3
-‐
Methodology
..............................................................................................
25
3.1 Introduction to methodology ..........................................................................25
3.2 Research Philosophy........................................................................................27
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3.3 Research Approach..........................................................................................28
3.4 Research Strategy ............................................................................................28
3.4.1 Questionnaires.............................................................................................29
3.4.2 Analysis.......................................................................................................31
3.5 Types of Data....................................................................................................32
3.6 Limitations of Study ........................................................................................33
Chapter
4
-‐
Findings
and
Discussion
of
Findings
.................................................
34
4.1 Introduction......................................................................................................34
4.2 Data Presentation.............................................................................................34
4.3 The evolution of Glass recycling so far ..........................................................36
4.4 Current status of glass recycling in the European Union ............................37
4.5 Are subsidies a necessary government incentive to boost Industry ............38
4.6 The factors affecting companies to recycle glass...........................................39
4.7 What has made the growth in glass recycling possible.................................40
4.8. The European Union v the UKs recycling rates...........................................41
4.9 The purpose of glass recycling?......................................................................42
2.10 The future of glass recycling.........................................................................43
Chapter
5
–
Conclusion
.................................................................................................
45
5.1 Introduction to Conclusion .............................................................................45
5.2 Reuse and Recycling of glass culets................................................................45
5.3 Environmental benefits of recycling glass .....................................................46
5.4 The Growth of Glass Recycling ......................................................................47
Chapter
6
-‐
Bibliography
..............................................................................................
49
6.1 Academic Journals...........................................................................................49
6.2 Books.................................................................................................................51
6.3 Government Publication .................................................................................51
6.4 Magazines .........................................................................................................51
6.5 Reports..............................................................................................................51
6.6 Websites ............................................................................................................52
Chapter
7
-‐
Appendices
.................................................................................................
54
7.1 Questionnaire Introduction Page ...................................................................54
7.2 Candidates for Questionnaires .......................................................................55
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7.3 Questionnaire Questions Sample....................................................................55
7.4 Questionnaire 1 ................................................................................................57
7.5 Questionnaire 2 ................................................................................................61
7.6 Questionnaire 3 ................................................................................................65
7.7 Questionnaire 4 ................................................................................................68
7.8 Questionnaire 5 ................................................................................................72
7.9 Questionnaire 6 ................................................................................................75
7.10 Appendix 1 – Recycling amounts (Tones) of wastes ...................................79
7.11 Appendix 2 – Waste Management Percentage............................................79
7.12 Appendix 3 – Job creation through recycling .............................................80
7.13 Appendix 4 - Composition of waste of average household.........................80
7.14 Appendix 5 – Opinion of Glass Recycling in the UK..................................81
7.15 Appendix 6 - Europe Glass Recycling Rates ...............................................81
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IV. List of Tables and Figures
Figure 1 - Manufacturing process (Flat Glass) ............................................................20
Figure 2 - Glass Recycling Process .............................................................................21
Figure 3 - Lifecycle of glass as filtration media ..........................................................22
Figure 4 - a) Mixed coloured glas on Kerbside collection b) Commercial glass
Collection.............................................................................................................23
Figure 5 - Research Onion...........................................................................................27
Figure 6 - Types of Questionnaires..............................................................................29
Figure 7 - Years of Experience of Candidates.............................................................35
Figure 8 - Illustration of Energy Saved Due to Reuse of Glass Culets........................47
Figure 9 - Evolution of Glass Recycled In Europe......................................................48
Table 1 - Qualitative v Quantitative Methods..............................................................32
Table 2 - Candidates Job Titles....................................................................................36
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V. Abbreviations
- PET: Polyethylene terephthalate
- ILSR: Institute for Local Self reliance
- MRF: Material Recycling Facility
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VI. Vocabulary
- Culet: Scraps of broken or waste glass gathered for re-melting, especially with
new material.
- Polyethylene terephthalate: Is a thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester
family and is used in synthetic fibers; beverage, food and other liquid
containers
- Green Powers: Green powers are sources of renewable energies
- Green Energies: Green Energies are Green powers and other types of energy
that are environmentally friendly. (E.g. recycling)
- Container Glass: Group of glass, green, brown and yellow glass can all be
referred to as types of container glass.
- Flat Glass: Is the material that goes into a variety of end products including
windows and facades for buildings, windscreens and windows for transport,
and solar panels, but also in much lower quantities in many other applications
such as furniture, electronics, etc.
- Flint Glass: Is optical glass that has relatively high refractive index and low
Abbe number (high dispersion)
- Kerbside Collection: The collection of wastes outside your doorstep, hence the
name.
- Commercial Collection System: When the government are hiring third parties
to collect the waste from the streets. (On top of the normal waste collectors)
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VII. Abstract
This dissertation has as an aim to explore the various factors that are driving the
evolution and growth of glass recycling. The growth of the industry thus far, has been
different for all of the countries within the European Union. The literature argues that
factors such as education, subsidies and legislations were the main limitations of
growth in the glass recycling industry. But even with those vast amounts of
limitations, the industry still managed to grow drastically over the past 40 years.
Therefore, the research will look at what the future of the glass recycling industry will
be once the previously limitations will have been dealt with. This project will be
created and concluded on the hand of its comparison of the collected secondary
research with the primary research. The primary data has been gathered by the help of
6 professionals with a large amount of experience of the glass recycling. The primary
research concluded that the earth would keep growing. Meaning that current
population will expand and grow and as a consequence more production will be
needed. The data collected determined that this could become a problem. Firstly, the
chance that energy prices will rise over the next 20 years is very much likely.
Secondly, the amount of raw materials available to produce glass will shrink. These
two factors validate the fact that glass recycling will become a vital green energy in
the future. Apart from that the research also brought to light arguments such as that
Glass will become too expensive and that therefore the market will use towards the
consumption of PET.
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Chapter 1 – Introduction
1.1 Introduction
Sustainability has become a key role for man, corporations and the future human
growth on earth. Therefore, issues to tackle are factors like the natural environment,
pollution and global warming. Today, there are over 30 kinds of waste affecting the
environment, and it is paramount to be addressed accordingly. In this dissertation will
focus on one of the ways to handle this through recycling. Indeed, recycling is an
important concept as it is a process to change used materials into new materials or
products, in order to prevent the waste of materials, which would benefit the good of
the planet. As will be explained further in this dissertation, recycling could not only
reduce the consumption of raw materials but also reduce energy consumption such as
fossil fuels, lower CO2 emissions and cut the usage of landfill sites. Recycling has
always been encouraged however, in the past 15 years governments and in particular
green political parties are pushing through new policies, have increased pressure on
society to be more environmentally friendly and aware. Over the past decade there
have been great strides made on the recycling front, these changes can be seen in
appendix 1.
In Europe the amount of recycling varies significantly from country to country
(Appendix 2) and it is arguable that the variable amounts are affected by social and
economical factors, which directly affect the behavior of the population. When
looking at recycling in the UK, there is an estimate that each household throws away
just over a ton of waste on a yearly basis. For every ton of products bought another
ten tons is used to produce it. When looking at these figures, it should be noted that
70% of the waste could be recycled or composted. Although the majority of the UK
population is regarding recycling as a worthless and tiresome process and
consequently only 14.5% of household waste is recycled or composted. (Defra, 2005).
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Without a doubt recycling and its waste management programmes will be beneficial
not only to the sustainability of the planet but it will also provide society with the
following benefits:
• It will provide new job opportunities and training
• Collecting recyclable materials and re-using them will avoid disposal costs and
Landfill Tax.
• The income from recycling and reuse of raw materials can help reduce the
collection costs for the governments.
• Recycling and re-using will help towards being more ecological and
environmentally friendly.
• Through being more environmentally friendly, carbon savings will be made.
• The benefits from being more socially responsible do no have to affect just one
part of the government but the impacts can be shared across departments.
• Recycling and re-usage of materials will help provide the less fortunate with
appliances and furniture.
After discussing how crucial and important recycling has become, emphasis will be
put on the recycling of glass. Glass today is playing a large role in numerous activities
of people’s lives, ranging from packaging, vehicles, glazing, electrical equipment and
houseware. Apart from being a factor in our daily lives, glass has proven to be a
crucial material towards the development of new technologies and science. However
glass is nothing new to the world, glass is one of the oldest manmade materials. There
is evidence that the production of glass started in ancient Egypt dating to 3000 BC
(Farlane, 2002). The recycling of glass is also an activity which has been carried out
for many years, Emmins (1991), stated that the recycling of reuse glass has been
happening since the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, although large-scale
recycling only started in the 1970’s. Glass is an easily recyclable material, in that it
can be collected, cleaned and re-used. Furthermore, it can be re-melted and reformed
into the same article or moreover, into new products. Another option would be mixing
it with other materials to be used in cement or construction of roads.
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A problem with glass was that, landfill was the only method to dispose of waste for
countless Centuries and more recently numerous ethical concerns have appeared and
as a consequence governments have started to take drastic action and cut dependency
on landfill sites through recycling programs. Secondly in order to create glass, fusions
of various minerals such as sand where needed. Again the governments noticed that
one day, the earth might run out of minerals and therefore the importance of recycling
and reutilization will have to become more and more important.
1.2 Aims and Objectives
This research project will aim to analyze the futuristic importance of glass recycling
in Europe. In order to answer this question, the researcher will start by making the
readers understand the importance of recycling as a whole. Once this explained the
aim will be to compare countries that are more advanced in glass recycling (such as
Belgium, Netherland, etc.) with countries that are less efficient (such as the UK). This
comparative analysis will allow the readers to understand how various countries are
performing and why they are over- or under performing. It is also important that the
readers understand the glass manufacturing and glass recycling processes. To finalize
the research project, the findings, but more specifically the conclusion will evaluate
how important the future of this industry will be. In order to achieve the aims and
objectives of this dissertation, the researcher will have to focus on the following
points:
• An in depth on why recycling has become increasingly important
• What initiatives are governments undertaking in order to improve recycling
o What policies and regulations have they set up in order to do so
• What the recycling targets are, and how countries are dealing with them.
• The importance of glass recycling and its environmental impact
• Analyze the expertise of candidates through the use of questionnaire
• How other people see the development of this green power
• Where this industry is going towards
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1.3 Methods
Research will be conducted using as a first qualitative primary data collected through
postal questionnaires to relevant companies and candidates. A variety of secondary
resources will be used such as academic journals, books, government publications,
magazines and reports. These sources will be compared and contrasted in order to
give a critical evaluation of the research question.
1.4 Significance of the study
I anticipate that this project will enlighten me further on glass recycling in the
European Union today. Furthermore an insight into the importance of the glass
recycling industry and the impact towards sustainability it can have. Finally, the main
aim of this project, for me, is to not only convince myself, but the reader as well, that
as my research question states, the recycling of glass will become a crucial factor in
the futuristic development of this world.
1.5 Limitations
The creation of this research paper proved to be more difficult than expected. As a
first, this was due to the reason that the subject chosen was somewhat unknown to the
people surrounding me. When starting the Literature, so in other words the secondary
research, it proved to be more difficult then imagined too. Limited information on
glass recycling was found, most information used and processed came from company
websites and governmental reports. Even though this made my data extremely
reliable, it meant that there was less to argue about when it came down to the findings
and discussion chapter.
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Chapter 2 - Literature Review
2.1 Introduction to Literature Review
As mentioned in the introduction, being environmentally aware and recycling has
become a priority for everyone, as it is the only way forward to sustainability.
2.2 Sources of energy
Currently,
the
sources
of
energy
used
to
generate
electricity
differ,
some
in
having
more
harmful
impact
on
the
environment.
In
Europe,
electricity
is
most
frequently
generated
through
the
use
of
fossil
or
nuclear
fuels,
these
fuels
are
and
always
will
be
very
detrimental
to
the
environment
and
human
health.
This
is
due
to
emissions
in
which
these
fuels
release
creating
environmental
problems.
Even
though
there
have
been
countless
projects
towards
the
improvement
of
pollution
control,
the
use
of
fossil
and
nuclear
fuels
are
still
the
largest
source
of
air
pollution
up
to
present
date.
Today
there
are
various
markets,
which
offer
ways
of
producing
energy
in
a
cleaner
more
efficient
way.
This
gives
the
energy
consumer
a
choice
of
using
the
more
frequently
used
green
powers
or
green
energies.
(European
Environment
Agency,
2013)
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2.3 What is “Green energy” and “Green powers”
The word Green power is used in various ways, in the sense that it refers to the use of
not only environmentally preferable energy but also the use of energy technologies
such as electric and thermal energy. This definition of Green power contains different
types of power, from solar energy to fuel cells for automobiles, to wind turbines
(Green-e.org, 2015). When referring to Green power, it can be concluded that it is a
way of generating electricity, by using a variation of renewable resources. These
resources can vary from geothermal, biomass, solar, biogas and wind energies. These
resources have a never-ending life span, or at least recover over a short periods of
time.
Natural resources used to create Green energies include the wind, sun, organic plants,
moving water and waste materials, the heat of the earth also known as geothermal
heat can also be considered as a natural resource (O’Connor, 2010).
It has to be kept in mind that the use of renewable energies, clean powers and green
powers may vary marginally. These variations come down the fact that every
environmentally preferable energies or powers impact the earth in various ways.
(Green-e.org, 2015)
The way to differentiate Green powers with Green energies is fairly simple, Green
powers; as mentioned above is the creation of energy threw the use of renewable
energies (e.g. Wind, sun and biomass) Whilst Green energies, includes the green
powers, it also includes other ways to reduce energy consumption, CO2 emissions and
the consumption of raw materials. (e.g. Glass, plastic and other waste materials used
to generate energy or to reduce energy consumption) (Green-e.org, 2015)
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2.4 Reasons behind the increased concern in the environment
Due to a number of reasons there has been an increase in concern towards the social
responsibility of society, and as a result there have been incentives in the use of green
energies in general. Firstly, One of the reasons is the negative environmental impacts
which comes from production processes have (Azzone & Noci, 1998). Examples of
companies with high pollution in their production process are mostly electrical, coal,
gas and energy production companies such as “Duke Energy”, “Southern”, “Amaren”,
“Electrabel”, amongst many others (Yarow, 2009).
Secondly, there has been an increase in pressure on enterprises from society to use
green energies to help towards the environmental future. Due to the increased
pressure from society the governments, are having to update the legal demands that
the European Union are constantly setting upon enterprises for example; the EU is
forcing companies to collect and reuse many of their products, obligating large
companies to use solar panels, and other Green powers (Murphy & Poist, 2003).
Another reason for enterprises to pay more attention to their social responsibility is
the fact that it gives an increased value to their image or brand (Van Hoek, 1999).
Lastly, consumers and companies have changed their preferences, today each are
looking for products, which are more ecological and socially responsible. As a result
of this, manufacturers and suppliers have had to modify their products and their
product placement upon the market (Lampe & Gazda, 1995 & Bloemhof-Ruwaard et
al., 1995). Therefore, when looking at new regulations enforced on companies and the
fact that one of them, is the reuse and collection of products, means that recycling is
seen as an important factor by governments. Their aim could therefore be considered
as a strategic environmental view, a strategy to revalue products that have already
been used before by a consumer, or in other words to extend the life cycle of that
product.
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Indeed, there are many ways to revitalize a product, such as, reprocessing, renovation,
repair, cannibalization, reutilizing or recycling it (Martijn et al. 1995). All these ways
of revitalization means returning the products to their former state, therefore you can
call this process a reverse logistics chain (Fleischmann et al., 2000). This process is
not easy, the relationship between consumer and companies will change, instead of
just selling a product, companies will need to collaborate with their clientele, with the
goal of recuperating, recycling, reutilizing, and so on when at the reaching the end of
their life (Azzone & Noci, 1998).
From this you can conclude that there is an increased amount pressure on companies
to be more socially responsible. This paper analyses the reasons why recycling, but
more specifically glass recycling could become an important factor in the future.
2.7 Reasons why governments are pushing people to recycle
There are several reasons why governments are pushing forward recycling, but only
the five most crucial ones will be mentioned next. To start with, recycling will create
jobs and strengthen the economy. The Institute for Local Self Reliance (ILSR)
investigated the numbers of jobs potentially available through recycling. It came to a
conclusion that ten times more jobs were needed for the recycling of one ton of waste,
compared to the amount of jobs needed for landfill (Ilsr.org, 2014). When looking at
appendix 3 it can be noted that recycling programs have really influenced job creation
in the UK (Ray Georgeson Resources Ltd & Friends of the Earth Ltd, 2010). On top
of that, through recycling, large amounts of energy will be saved.
Today, one of the main goals of many governments is to incorporate new Green
powers and Green energies in order to stop dependency on fossil fuels and therefore
leading to the sustainability of the planet. As mentioned earlier, fossil fuels release
bad toxins which pollute the air and harmful both to the human body and the
environment. “Tyskeng and Finnveden” argued that through the hand of recycling big
amounts of energy would be saved. Most of the energy saved would be associated
with its manufacturing process (Tyskeng and Finnveden, 2010).
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The third reason is a very obvious one, but often neglected. Recycling will help in the
prevention of soil, water, and air pollution. The following point is very closely linked
to the previous one, apart from preventing the pollution of water, soil, and air
pollution, indeed if recycling is done adequately, less natural resources will be used.
The natural resources such as land, minerals, plants and water are being used
extensively and recycling will therefore allow these resources to be used more then
once. Consequently helping to reduce the amounts of natural resources consumed
(Thormark, 2001).
As a last point, recycling allows the reduction in the amount of landfill, today. In
Europe, the production of waste is increasing on a yearly basis. There has however
been major improvements in that area, but more need to be made, it is therefore
crucial to try and recycle as much as possible in order to reduce this environmental
problem (Marsh & Garnham, 1996).
After reading this it is fair to say that recycling is critical, as it will not only help the
environment but also people. Its importance is endless and it is an industry which
will have to keep developing and growing in order to keep this planet turning, as
mentioned by the “NRDC”.
2.8 Glass manufacturing from raw materials process
As previously mentioned this paper will focus on the study of a recyclable material,
more specifically glass. Glass is created by the fusion of natural resources, therefore,
forms part of nature itself. Glass, is endlessly recyclable, it is like no other product. In
order to better understand the benefits of glass recycling and why it is rapidly
becoming a more recognizable green power, it is crucial to understand its
manufacturing process. Even though recycled glass has already been manufactured
once before, it is critical to understand its manufacturing process in order to identify
the embodied energy that is within the glass. Indeed the main process of glass
recycling is to try and recover as much energy as possible. The raw materials which
are used for the production of glass are soda ash, sand, limestone and a trace of
dolomite and feldspar. These are then mixed and melted at a temperature of 1600
degrees Celsius, and then through a controlled cooling of approximately 200 degrees
Celsius glass is formed. (Figure 1)
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Figure
1
-‐
Manufacturing
process
(Flat
Glass)
Source: British Glass, 2014
On the other hand production of green, yellow and brown glass, also referred to as
container glass is created in ovens with the same temperature but is then poured into
moulds such as bottles and jars. So in the production of glass the melting process is
where most energy is consumed resulting in two tons of CO2 being released for each
ton of glass produced (British Glass, 2014).
2.9 The glass recycling process
Apart from saving energy in the recycling process of glass there can also be major
sustainable implications in the glass recycling process. Consequently it is important to
understand the lifecycle of recycled glass. The lifecycle of glass is fairly complex,
and it is often mentioned as ‘cradle to grave’, which is from its production to last
disposal. Cradle to grave is also referred to, when talking about the factors which
affect the process of glass recycling upon the environment, such as solid waste
creation, consumption of energy and raw materials and pollution to air and water.
When stating the Glass recycling lifecycle, British Glass (2003) sais that glass
recycling forms part of the life cycle of glass that starts from the extraction of the raw
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materials to processing, glass manufacture, distribution and packaging, product use,
recycling and re-use. In figure 2, a summary of the current glass recycling lifecycle is
produced.
Figure
2
-‐
Glass
Recycling
Process
Source: British Glass, 2003
Glass is recycled through two main points, the first is ‘kerbside’ collection which is
outside the door, and the second is the ‘bring system’, which means taking recyclables
to bottle banks. A commercial system (Where a third party is hired by the
government) can be a third option, but it is calculated that the collection system is
more appropriate, less expensive and contributes more to the recycling system. Figure
8 shows you an example of the main recycling schemes in the UK.
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Figure
3
-‐
Lifecycle
of
glass
as
filtration
media
Source: Wrap, 2006
When analyzing the collection of glass, it is fair to say that it is easier and less time
consuming to collect at drop off locations. The glass collected through the bring
system is often just a mixture of all types of glass, rarely it includes other waste such
as food, cardboard, paper, etc. So it is easy to say that this type of collection process
decreases environmental burdens. The collected glass taken from bottle banks goes
either to bulking or is taken straight to the processing plant. Whilst the glass kerbside
collection in the UK contains food, cardboard, paper, etc. (Figure 4) Unfortunately the
UK lags behind many other European countries in the recuperation of glass. For
instance in Belgium, different coloured bags are used for waste, and then they are
collected by different waste collectors. Recycled glass has to go to a material
recycling facility (MRF) plant, firstly to be separated from other waste and then
followed by a separation of colour. This stage can be seen on figure 3. Once the glass
has been sorted it will be taken to a transfer point where it will be taken directly to a
manufacturer, depending on the use of the glass.
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Figure
4
-‐
a)
Mixed
coloured
glas
on
Kerbside
collection
b)
Commercial
glass
Collection
Source: British Glass, 2003
2.10 Problems of Glass recycling (UK)
The UK has two major problems when it comes to glass recycling. First, its rate of
recycling should be much higher (Appendix 6). Secondly, the glass, which has been
collected, is often mixed with a large variety of other materials (figure 4). This means
that the glass needs to go to very technologically advanced plants in order to be
separated from the other waste materials (British Glass, 2003). The plants in the UK
are modern enough to be able to do this for container glass, but they are unable to
recycle flat glass (white glass), it therefore needs to be sent to more advanced plants,
which are only available in countries such as Germany, Holland and Belgium. These
aforementioned countries have high recycling rates, consequently are generating more
turnover, hence more advanced plants (Berryman, 2013). Today the current pathways
of recycled glass require;
• Transportation of the collected glass to the MRF facilities
• Reprocessing of glass
• The transportation of the end product to the end markets
All of these steps have an actual and potential impact on the environment too. These
environmental impacts include air quality, noise, energy consumption, water quality
and land use (British Glass, 2005).
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2.10 Households in the and their Recycling (UK)
When looking at households and businesses in the UK, they generate around 100
million tons of waste annually, of which 3.6 million tons of it is glass. The EC
Packaging and Waste Directive have put regulations and demands that the UK glass
recycling industry had to achieve a recycling target of 73.5% by 2010 (Defra, 2005).
Yet it only managed to recycle 1.1 million tons, which is not at all close to the
demanded targets. With a total usage of 3.6 million tons of glass, the rate of recycling
would be at only 32%, which has been more or less the case for the past 5 years in the
UK (Wasteonline, 2005). When looking at the UK recycling rates it is easy to
conclude that it is far behind the average European rates as shown in Appendix 6.
Bragg (2013) undertook a study with the help of various surveys in order to try and
figure out why the UK was struggling with the glass recycling. She concluded, that
this came down to two factors, as a first, poor government recycling initiatives.
Secondly a lack of education during the informative years played a crucial role and
moreover the fact that 50% of people believe that even if they recycled the glass, it
would still end up in landfill (Bragg, 2013).
2.11 Conclusion of Literature review
From the above information, it has become clear that everyone, as either an individual
or as a company will need increase their environmental awareness and act
accordingly. Today, an increased amount of people are working towards a more
sustainable future. Governments are enforcing rules and regulations in order too
ensure that individuals and companies adhere to the increased use of Green energies
and provide incentives to take on board renewable energies. However, as has been
seen countries such as the UK are lacking initiative when it comes to recycling in
general and in particular to the recycling of glass. Without recycling there will still be
reliance upon raw materials, which are exhaustible and therefore threaten the
existence of mankind. As stated today one of the largest problems is air pollution
through the release of fuels, the emission of CO2 and the exaggerated use of energy.
Glass manufacturing produced large of CO2 and consumes a lot of energy and
therefore, the recycling of glass is crucial as it consumes much less of the
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aforementioned. Indeed, increasing recycling measures can solve environmental
problems, but some countries argue that they have reached their maximum potential
recycling rates. And many countries, such as the UK have failed miserably, in
attaining targets. When considering companies, if recycle increases, profits will and
as a consequence new investments in technologies will help to increase the amount of
glass recycled. This can be linked to the UK as it currently lacks the advanced plants
to recycle flat Glass and therefore it needs to be shipped to other countries to be
processed.
Chapter 3 - Methodology
3.1 Introduction to methodology
In the previous chapter, the literature review, was critically analyzed in order to
understand how to achieve a sustainable future. The main methods on how to tackle
the current environmental problems, such as pollution, energy consumption, and the
lack of recycling were discussed. The research was carried out in order to have an
overall view of sustainability.
The purpose of this chapter, the methodology, is to provide an outlined approach of
how to collect the researched data in a way that answers the dissertation research
question adequately. In other words, the task of a methodology is to expose and
explain research assumptions as far and as attainably as possible. The project will be
looking at identifying the methods and methodologies employed in the conduction of
the research, which will answer the project’s central question.
This chapter will be structured in the following way; the Introduction to the
methodology will show what has been done in the previous chapter, the goal of this
chapter and a brief explanation of what methodology means. The Research
Approach will outline what different philosophies need to be considered, whilst
analyzing the data for this project. The Research Strategy will be divided into the
tree parts that where used to collect primary data, as a first why Questionnaires were
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used, followed by how the Snowball Sampling Effect helped with the collection of
primary data, and to conclude and analysis on the questionnaires. Then different
types of Data will be analyzed in order to give a wider range of sources. Following
this, the ethical concerns will take a quick look at ethics and why they are important.
The Limitations will describe the problems, which have been faced during the said
project and finally a Conclusion will close the project.
When talking about ‘Methods’ tools and techniques used to collect and analyze data
are focused on, this is mainly for data such as interviews and surveys, linking this to
qualitative and quantitative research. Both research methods will be used, but at the
end, the data collected will be based more precisely on the quantitative parts. When
talking about the ‘methodologies’ there is an increased focused on how something is
carried out, and how knowledge is acquired. When comparing it to the ‘methods’ the
methods are focused on the various techniques and the ‘methodology’ focuses on why
one used those particular techniques and not others.
Summarized, as Berg (2009) said, a Methodology is a study and description of
methods. This chapter of Methodology will be based and built with reference to
Saunders’ et al., (2012) ‘research onion’, which will give a clear guide and show the
vital aspects of the research as can be seen on Figure 5.
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Figure
5
-‐
Research
Onion
Source: Saunders et al., 2012
3.2 Research Philosophy
When writing a research of this kind, it is crucial to consider the various research
philosophies. Ontology and epistemology are two matters which are crucial, as these
describe assumptions, beliefs, perceptions and the reality and truth. They influence
the way a dissertation project like this is undertaken, from the design of the project all
the way to the conclusion. This is why it is important to discuss and understand these
characteristics, terms and concepts of the research philosophy. (Saunders et al., 2012)
Saunders et al. (2012) explains that there are four main types of philosophies that
could be applied when research is undertaken; Realism, positivism, pragmatism and
interpretivism. This research will mainly be formed through the use of realism but it
can be assumed that a certain level of Interpretivism will be used, as it cannot be
neglected, due to the fact that it is necessary to analyze the collected data. Realism
means that there is a certain truth about the existing problem, attitude or practice, the
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researcher needs to show that he has accepted the situation and has to deal with it
responsibly. Interpretivism will be crucial as well as it is related to the interests and
values of the researcher. Krapp (1999) mentioned, that when a person has a high level
of interest in a particular domain, he will have increased motivation. Pragmatism and
Positivism are not useful in the research as, pragmatism has had problems with
leaving out valid information, due to the fact that the information had not brought
enough success at certain times. While, positivism only focuses on scientific methods
that has no leeway and only allows mathematical of logical proof.
3.3 Research Approach
When keeping in mind the Saunders’ research onion, the second layer focuses on the
process of collection. According to the research onion this process is divided in to,
two approaches, the inductive and deductive part. An inductive approach is closely
linked with a variation of theories, these theories are grounded upon the outcome of
various interpretations and tests. Whereas, a deductive approach is also based around
theories, the deductive approach uses already existent theories to confirm other
theories. (Saunders et al., 2009) Both these approaches will have to be kept in mind
during the collection of data in this paper.
3.4 Research Strategy
Saunders et al. (2009, pp600) defined research strategy as “the general plan of how
the researcher will go about answering the research questions”. Bryman (2008,
pp698) identified research strategy as “a general orientation to the conduct of
research”. And according to Remenyi et al (2003), it provides the overall direction of
the research including the process by which the research is conducted.
The first step, when carrying out research, is to look at the already existing literature
and theories. Once the existing literature and theories have been critically analyzed,
models need to be contacted to gain greater knowledge, such models can vary from
individuals who have no knowledge about the researched industry to people who have
over the years experienced and gained a vast amount of knowledge in the field. Ways
of collection could vary from surveys, interviews, questionnaires to statistical
analysis. (Saunders et al., 2009)
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3.4.1 Questionnaires
The term ‘questionnaire’ has been used in different ways. Some practitioners reserve
the term exclusively for self-administered and postal questionnaires, while others
include interview schedules (administered, face-to-face or by telephone) under the
general rubric of ‘questionnaires’. In a different way the word ‘questionnaires’ is
sometimes used to distinguish a set of questions, including perhaps open-ended ones,
from more rigidly constructed scales or tests (Oppenheim, 1996). Questionnaires tend
to be used for more descriptive or explanatory research. Descriptive research will be
using the attitude and opinion of participants, as this enables them to describe and
identify different phenomena’s. Whilst explanatory research will be more focused on
allowing the researcher to gain information in order to examine cause-and-effect
relationships. The main advantages of using questionnaires are:
• Low cost of data collection
• Low cost of processing
• Avoidance of interview bias
• Ability to reach respondents who live at widely dispersed addresses or even
abroad.
These advantages were important in the decision making process of the source of data
collection. In Figure 6 it can be see that the researcher has a wide range of
questionnaires to choose from, knowing which one will suit each need, as a
researcher, can sometimes be perplexing.
Figure
6
-‐
Types
of
Questionnaires
Source: Saunders et al., 2012
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The decision was taken to use self-administered questionnaires and use the postal
method, more specifically; via email. This is due to the fact that the audience trying to
be reached where overseas. This method also allowed the researcher to send out
questionnaires to large recycling firms and some governments. The researcher
originally wanted to use interviews but after profound research found that interviews
were time-consuming and expensive to conduct and to process. Reaching a wide and
dispersed amount of people would be more complicated by the use of interviews than
sending out questionnaires. Therefore, the decision was to go ahead and use
questionnaires as, in a way, an interviewer would still be present when responding. It
was also concluded that the respondents might interact with the given questionnaires
and therefore respond as specifically as they would do in an interview (Oppenheim,
1996)
A crucial factor, which needs to be thought of before sending out the questionnaires,
is the layout and design. In this case the design was built on the basis of Oppenheim’s
book on ‘questionnaire design’ (1996). The following factors were kept in mind when
creating the questionnaire:
• Explanation of selection
• Confidentiality
• Reminders
• Anonymity
• Appearance
• Length
• The topic and the degree of interest of the respondent
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3.4.1.1 The Snowball Sampling Effect
Snowball sampling is a non-probability sampling method, this method relies on the
acquaintances’ of your own acquaintances. Meaning, that this method is often used
when aiming at a specific target of people. In this case, the aim was at people who
have been in the glass-recycling sector for numerous years. One or two contacts were
established beforehand but the researcher relied on these contact to communicate with
their own acquaintances (Sedgwick, 2013). The snowball effect allowed the
researcher to reach a wider population and therefore gain greater knowledge within
the glass recycling industry.
3.4.2 Analysis
In order to fully answer the research question, it is crucial to use the responses given
in the questionnaires. This is due to the fact that there is limited information and
theories available about what the future of the researched industry holds. Once the
questionnaire’s data has been collected and analyzed, recommendations and theories
based on the responses of various people working in that industry will have to be put
in place. As the responses will come from a range of people, industry specialists, it is
important to merge some of the gathered information. Due to the fact that some
respondents are specified in the recycling industry and others in the glass creation and
cleaning processes.
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3.5 Types of Data
There are two types of data, qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative research can be
defined as, a research method to gain and the understanding of opinions or facts. But
qualitative data does not measure the various attributes, assets or characteristics.
Therefore, in some ways it could help develop the quantitative research. ‘’Qualitative
data collection methods emerged after it has become known that traditional
quantitative data collection methods were unable to express human feelings and
emotions’’ (Davidson, 2007) Whilst quantitative research can be defined as data
which can be checked, and it is often based on numbers and charts; statistical
information. ‘’The collection of numerical data and exhibiting the view of
relationship between theory and research as deductive, a predilection for natural
science approach, and as having an objectivist conception of social reality’’ (Bryman
& Bell, 2007, p.154). In a way a differentiation of the two can be explained by saying
that qualitative data describes, whilst quantitative data defines, as can be seen in
figure 7.
Table
1
-‐
Qualitative
v
Quantitative
Methods
Qualitative Methods Quantitative Methods
• Emphasis on understanding • Emphasis on testing and
verification
• Focus on understanding from
respondent’s point of view
• Focus on facts and/or reasons
for social events
• Interpretation and rational
approach
• Logical and critical approach
• Explorative orientated • Hypothetical-deductive; focus
on hypothesis testing
• Holistic perspective • Particularistic and analytical
• Observations and
measurements in natural
settings
• Controlled measurement
• Process orientated • Result orientated
Source: Reichardt and Cook (1979)
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In the case of this report, qualitative data will be collected online. This is due to the
fact that the easiest way to get qualitative data is through surveys. Unfortunately,
surveys cannot be carried out by the researcher, as people filling in the surveys would
need knowledge on the topic, which only people in the field have. But many studies
have been done in the past and they will be of great use in the development of this
report. On the other, hand quantitative data will be collected with the use of
questionnaires. The results of the quantitative data will not give the researcher
directions but most of the arguments in the following chapter, the discussion chapter,
will stem from these results. Furthermore having in-depth answers from specialized
people will allow a better understanding of the issues at hand of environment today.
3.6 Limitations of Study
I believe that this subject has faced limitations when it came to data collection. When
collecting primary data, the limitation of for this project could be the amount
participants. Although having a good range of contacts, getting the correct
information may be hard. In this case the main participants would be; people working
in glass recycling companies; governments pushing through recycling programs.
Indeed this range of contacts can be hard to reach.
When looking at the limitations for secondary data collection, it will be difficult, as a
limited amount of books have been written about the recycling of glass. Which only
leaves the researcher to work mainly websites, news articles, government publications
and a academic journals. Even so the amount of academic journals are limited due to
the fact that it is industry where development is currently happening, but where future
uncertainty reigns. Most secondary data used will come from academic journals,
which had been written by a wide range of governmental programs. The main issue
therefore, is that the content of those journals will mainly consist of statistics rather
then rather explanations.
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Chapter 4 - Findings and Discussion of Findings
4.1 Introduction
In this chapter a critical analysis will be evaluated on the research question on the
hand of the gathered information. Evans, Gruba and Zobel, in their book “How to
Write a Better Thesis”, describe the finding and discussion chapter as the place where
you: “critically examine your findings in the light of the previous state of the subject
as outlined in the background, and make judgments as to what has been learnt in your
work”. Therefore, this chapter will give me the opportunity to present, analyze and
discuss the gathered primary and secondary data. This chapter will provide a detailed
presentation of facts and date that have been gathered by the use of the research
methodology. To do this clear links to research question, literature review and
presents arguments will have to be made. The primary and secondary data collected
will not only be presented in an adequate way, but also cross-referenced with the
literature review. It is important not to mystify the secondary data with the literature
review, the secondary data includes all the collected information during the research
process. The primary data presented will be derived from the questionnaires that are
attached in the Appendices section. (Chapter 7)
4.2 Data Presentation
As mentioned in the methodology the data gathered in order to conduct this chapter
was done by the hand of questionnaires. A total of 6 questionnaires where answered
by experienced people within the glass recycling industry. The researched found, that
when selecting the appropriate people to answer the questionnaires, experience and
position within a firm where two main factors to consider. When looking at the people
who have taken the time to answer the questionnaires, together they accumulate for
81 years of experience in the glass recycling industry, as can be seen in Figure 8
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Figure 7 - Years of Experience of Candidates
Source: the author, 2015
From the above-mentioned data, it can be concluded that all candidates have a vast
amount of experience. This experience is the key towards developing a well-
formatted discussion and findings section. The glass recycling industry is an industry
that has evolved drastically over the last 20 years, being able to collect data from
candidates that have seen those changes personally will benefit the credibility of this
dissertation. Apart from experience the candidates offer, it is also important to
mention the diversity of jobs within the candidates, as can be seen in appendix...
Every job within the glass recycling industry sees different things and will therefore
have different approaches on the questions asked within the questionnaire.
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Table 2 - Candidates Job Titles
Candidates Job Title
Candidate 1 General Manager (Minérale and High 5)
Candidate 2 Head Of Glass Recycling (Sibelco)
Candidate 3 General Secretary (Verver)
Candidate 4 Comercial & Marketing Director (Sibelco)
Candidate 5 Retired CFO
Candidate 6 Head Of Manufacturing
Source: The author
Those two factors will be crucial when developing the arguments within the findings.
As a first, certainty can be made that the received information is reliable. Secondly it
can also be assumed that a wide range of diversified answers will be given.
4.3 The evolution of Glass recycling so far
As Martin and Mac Farlane (2002) mentioned, the recycling of glass has been
happening since 3000 BC, this was due to the fact that the creation process of glass
bottles was much more complicated and time-demanding. When comparing it to
today, uncountable amounts of glass bottles are created all over the world on a daily
basis. For years, the used bottles where used as landfill and the consideration of
recycling them was limited. As Baccani (2015) mentioned in questionnaire 2, the
inhabitants on this earth will keep growing in numbers, as a result more and more raw
materials will be consumed. Raw materials are not endless, it will therefore become
imperative to recycle. When comparing the secondary data with the primary data
collected, Candidate 5 (2015) referred in questionnaire 5 that the Swiss where the first
to attempt large scale glass recycling in 1994. The reasons for them attempting this
rather then others was a reaction to the fact that they had scarce amounts of raw
materials to produce the glass and high transportation costs to import manufactured
glass. The first attempts to recycle glass, as Delterne (2015) explained in
questionnaire 1, consisted of putting waste on a conveyor belt and remove the glass
manually. Grün, a German company, were the first to push the creation of a well-
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organized collection method in order to improve the German recycling rates. When
looking at the recycling rates today, a direct link can be made with the improved
technologies. Before, the Kerbside collected waste, had to be manually separated.
This led that only 10 % of the glass waste was recycled. Today through the improved
technologies, up to 90% of glass waste can be recycled. Next to the improved
technologies, the improved collection methods also allowed the industry to evolve
promptly.
4.4 Current status of glass recycling in the European Union
The European commission has set very clear targets for its members to achieve in a
certain period of time. Each country in particular has its individual glass-recycling
targets that suit their profile. As mentioned in questionnaire 2 by Baccani (2015),
West European countries are more advanced then the East and Mediterranean Europe.
The West are pushing towards the reduction of energy and mineral consumption
whilst East and Mediterranean need to improve their waste collection in order to
improve those targets. Previously mentioned in the Literature, the UK had set targets
to recycle 73% of their glass consumption by 2010, which it failed to achieve. These
targets were very closely linked with the European ones. Ska (2015) mentioned in
questionnaire 3 that if all EU-members would apply the packaging recycling rules
everyone would eventually achieve their set targets. But as mentioned in both the
Literature review and the primary data some, most of the countries lack initiatives and
as a result are behind their targets. Candidate 5 (2015) confirmed the secondary data
with mentioning that the UK is far behind the rest of Europe. The literature argued
that the UK had not achieved those targets due to reasons such as bad waste
collection, people not knowing where their waste was going and most people
presumed their recycled glass would just be used as landfill anyways. When
comparing this to the primary data, Candidate 5 (2015) argued that this is a result of
the glass industry being very concentrated in East Europe. Secondly, Deltenre and
candidate 6 (2015) both pointed out that countries such as Belgium and the
Netherlands are highly populated countries that are currently recycling at maximum
levels due to highly effective and profitable recycling routes. Even though primary
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and secondary data are arguing different points, they both come to the conclusion that
countries are not delivering the required outcome of their recycling targets.
4.5 Are subsidies a necessary government incentive to boost Industry
When looking at government’s incentives today, they are aimed at persuading people
of using renewable energies as mentioned in the Literature. Renewable energies are
there to help population reduce the amount of pollution in the creation process of
energy. Glass is recycled for the same purpose: not only will it save energy, but it will
also reduce the carbon dioxide emissions from consumption of energy. The question
we could ask ourselves is why do governments not give subsidies in order to motivate
people to recycle more?
Well, the literature argued that if subsidies were given, evidently more people would
recycle. It is unfortunate yet true to say that people act better when money is involved,
even though the essential motivation should be securing next generations of a clean
planet. When looking at the primary data collected, opinions on giving incentives in
order to increase the glass recovering process varied a great deal. Even within certain
firms, people felt different about the subject. Firstly, in questionnaire 1, Deltenre
(2015) was of the opinion that no subsidies were needed. According to him, the
industry could easily self- regulate itself as the demand for raw materials would
increase and subsequently the price which would sooner or later lead recycling in
order to keep the industry going. This answer is very much parallel with what Baccani
(2015) mentioned about raw materials having an end- period. But both questionnaires
respondents, Candidate 5 (2015) and Baccani (2015), agreed that giving subsidies was
not a necessary cause of action when it comes to pushing forward the recycling of
glass. But an interesting point came to light by candidates 5 and 6. They mentioned
that incentives should be used to motivate the glass collectors to recycle rather than
the citizens itself, referring to the UK where collectors are only picking up one type of
waste bag rather then employing more waste collectors and collect different waste
separately. In the Literature can be seen that only one sort of waste is collected on
‘Kerbside’. Countries such as Belgium, on the other hand, recycle different waste in
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different colored waste bags, which are then picked up separately by the waste
collectors.
As a conclusion, it can be said that incentives within the glass recovering industry is
definitely needed. Even though a part of the market is able to auto- regulate, subsidies
could boost the recycling industry and therefore have a major positive impact in the
short term in some countries. As East European countries’ recycling rates have
already reached 80% according to Hourquebie (2015), they would need less or no
motivation compared to countries like the UK, that score very badly. Nonetheless, no
exception should be made: every government should encourage their communities
and industries by introducing or evolve existing subsidies.
4.6 The factors affecting companies to recycle glass
As argued over and over in the literature, the main problems affecting the
environment today are the pollution that is generated from the creation of energy and
the use of fossil fuels. When looking at the creation process of glass, high levels of
energy are needed next to that, it also emissions large amounts of CO2. Candidate 5
mentioned that the first to recycle glass in large scale where the Swiss, due to the lack
of raw materials and high transportation costs. Well, when analyzing all candidates’
responses, this has now happened almost everywhere. They are referring to the fact
that raw materials are not endless and that companies slowly but surely come to the
realization that reuse of glass culets is crucial if they want to keep up the current pace
of industry. The literature argued that the recycling of glass is solely done for
environmental benefits such as reducing CO2 emissions, lowering energy
consumption and reducing landfills. All candidates agree with these factors, although
Deltenre (2015) mentioned in questionnaire 1 that the main purpose of companies
enrolling themselves in the recycling process is actually profit- related. Companies
recycle and reduce costs of production when reutilizing culets and therefore make
room for more profit. Additionally to that, the more percentage of culets placed in the
ovens/furnace, the less energy is consumed, which is yet again one of the main goals.
Companies such as Sibelco successfully manage to buy large amounts of waste (from
the UK for example) for a fairly cheap price. Their highly technological plants
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enables them to then separate the inserted waste up to 90%, to eventually resell the
culets to other large companies such as Vidralla for a much higher price. At the end of
the day, apart from being a money- making business, it can be concluded from the
literature and questionnaires that glass recycling should be encouraged even more for
the main reasons of reducing the exploitation of new mineral resources and reducing
the energy consumption.
4.7 What has made the growth in glass recycling possible
The glass recycling industry has evolved drastically over the last 25 years.
Governments have pushed recycling forward and in many countries collection and
recycling of waste has become a normal daily routine. Communities and households
in Western European countries have set up channels of recycling that are extremely
efficient and are now recycling up to 60% of the population’s waste, as mentioned by
Hourquebie (2015) in questionnaire 4. Technology has yet again played a substantial
role in the evolution of the industry so far, and will continue to be the main factor
affecting the evolution of glass recycling. Delterne (2015) explains that a few years
ago, culets smaller then 10 mm could not be recycled, whereas today advanced
technologies have made it possible for culets of 3 mm to be recycled. A direct
consequence of these new technologies is that larger amounts of glass can be recycled
and reused. Those larger amounts that will be recycled due to the technologies can
support Hourquebies’ (2015) statement of saying that Western Europe can and will
achieve 80% glass recycling. The Literature and the candidates again agreed that
some European countries have still got some growing margins, yet they are close to
achieving their highest possible glass recycling rates (container glass). Hourquebie
(2015) and Candidate 6 (2015) have both mentioned that Central European countries
yet present a tremendous growth potential. From the literature and candidates can
therefore be concluded that for these countries where recycling rates are below the
average, there is more than enough room to grow.
It is important to keep in mind that this data is based on container glass (green, brown
and yellow glass). When comparing the growth potential of flat and flint glass, there
is still tremendous growth possible, as today the highest recycling rate of flat glass in
a country is 30%.
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4.8. The European Union v the UKs recycling rates
The literature mentioned that The EC Packaging and Waste Directive have put
regulations and demands that the UK glass recycling industry had to achieve a
recycling target of 73.5% by 2010. This target had been set for all European Union
countries, yet only very few managed to achieve those targeted rates. In appendix 6
you can see how those various countries did. The UK will be evaluated next do to the
fact they are far behind there recycling targets. The literature argued that, for the UK,
this came down to three factors. Firstly, poor government recycling initiatives was a
reason for this failure. Secondly, a lack of education during the informative years also
played a crucial role. Furthermore, the fact that 50% of people believe that even if
they recycled the glass it would still end up in landfill did not help either. The final
reason was the fact that the collection system was not as it should be. When
comparing this to the primary data gathered, it came down to more then just what was
mentioned in the Literature. Deltenre (2015) argued that the main problem was the
organization of a good collection system, but this system can only be imputed once
the people have been made aware of a separated collection and the different types of
waste on which this collection is based. (Examples of such collection systems can be
seen in the Netherlands & Belgium). Deltenre (2015) was supported by the opinion of
Ska (2015) & Candidate 6, they argued that the reason for the different recycling rates
came down to a combination of several factors; the will of the legislator (enforcement
aspects are crucial), the discipline of the citizens (need for long term education), a
well developed logistic, the presence of glass factories, the density of population, etc.
These are all factors that explain why recycling rates are not steady through the
European Union. Next to those societal factors, for countries to achieve better results
it is also important to increase the government policies and legislations towards glass
recycling (Hourquebie (2015). As a conclusion it is fair to say that every country can
improve when it comes to glass recycling, but some more then others. Both Literature
and Primary data came to the same outcome that societal factors need to be looked at
if a country is underperforming (such as the UK) and the government needs to put its
foot down in order to increase the recycled rates.
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4.9 The purpose of glass recycling?
All industries today are focused on being profitable, this is done by finding a great
product and selling it. Or at least it used to be the only focus of companies, as their
clients were not looking further than that. Today, this has profoundly changed,
costumers are looking more and more into using products that are manufactured threw
ecological processes, only buying products in companies who are environmentally
friendly, etc. It is therefore that this dissertation questions the motives for glass
recyclers: are they doing this for solely profitable reasons or are they looking to create
an image in order to attract more clients? Well, according to the literature, companies
are being more environmentally friendly with the sole purpose of increasing their
costumer base. Comparing this to the primary data, the most complete answer came
from Candidate 6 (2015). He argued that companies rarely made decisions based on
only ecological and non-profitable reasons, even though social responsibility, in the
latter of things, is becoming more and more real. Hourquebie (2015) argued that in
the long term, the combination of companies’ economic and environmental interest of
the states would develop and sustain the recycling of glass. These answers were
written by company members, when comparing to Ska (2015) who works for Verver,
a glass recycling commission, who confirmed that on an industrial level, the main
reasons were economical, sometimes also for the image, as industries are put under
pressure of the consumers who are increasingly becoming more environmentally
friendly.
Due to the fact the primary and secondary date collided perfectly it is strait forward to
conclude that the increased pressure of governments and the consumers, companies
are motivated to recycle. Even so, companies not entirely willing recycle glass unless
for the main objective of increasing their profits. As mentioned by Baccani (2015),
head of glass recycling at Sibelco, for them undertaking glass recycling is a way to
balance its quarrying activities (social responsibility), and at the same time making a
business and creating profits out of it.
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2.10 The future of glass recycling
After all the argued points and different opinions on where the glass recycling started,
if governments are doing enough to promote glass recycling, on the reason why glass
recycling should be done, etc., it al comes down to this main point that will answer
the research question: does the glass recycling industry have a bright future? As
concluded in the literature, today, an increased amount of people are working towards
a more sustainable future. Governments are enforcing rules and regulations in order to
ensure that individuals and companies adhere to the increased use of green powers
and provide incentives to take on board renewable energies.
As a first answer to this conclusion, Candidate 5 & 6 (2015) argued that if the price of
glass becomes too high, people would increasingly towards the use of PET. Ska
(2015) also mentioned that he is sure that the future of glass recycling in Europe is
more and more under pressure because of the plastic packaging industry (or even
aluminum). Yet he trusts that the environmental future of glass is huge whilst plastic
will only be underlined as harmful packaging.
Deltenre (2015), on the other hand, is arguing that the future is yet the present. This
statement refers to the fact that glass consumers, glass recyclers and glass producers
have a common target (use of glass for packaging). As a result, glass recyclers use the
best available technologies in order to produce high quality culets. A consequence of
these high quality culets is that the industry is continuously increasing the rate of
culets in the furnace. Hourquebie (2015) also mentioned that the rate of incorporation
of culets in the furnaces drastically increased over the 40 past years.
As mentioned through this whole dissertation and as Ska (2015) is reinforcing in
questionnaire 3, the inertia and recyclability of glass is unlimited, its use in buildings
is unavoidable, and the techniques to recycle it are well developed. It is now only a
question of putting this into action, to enforce it, and to segregate the material as
much as possible at the source.
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From this we can conclude that there is still a serious potential in the glass industry in
Europe. Reasons such as the collection processes improving on a daily basis, the
growing density of population, etc. are all reasons that reinforce Deltenres’ (2015)
opinion. As Hourquebie (2015) and Candidate 6 (2015) have concluded their
questionnaires by stating that “there is real room for improvement in the glass
recovery process in some countries that are have currently fallen behind, while more
mature countries can develop the collection of industrial glass that is almost zero”. It
is very likely that energy will be more expensive in 20 years, the amount of mineral
resources are shrinking and that laws on pollution will harden; the future of the
recycling of glass and other materials have great potential ahead and are far from
mature in Europe, let alone worldwide.
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Chapter
5
–
Conclusion
5.1 Introduction to Conclusion
Throughout this dissertation, the researcher has been focusing on the importance of
glass recycling. This was done, by specifically looking at container glass, as this is the
glass with the largest production rates. This specific Glass, as mentioned is
manufactured by melting a combination of raw materials that suit the needs of glass.
These raw materials where melted in a furnace and subsequently melted in the
required shapes such as jars and bottles. Glass is a material that in almost all of its
forms is reusable. On top of that it is crucial to know that glass has no end date, it can
be re-melted and reused, as many times as needed, this is especially true for container
glass as quality is not a crucial factor. This has led to manufacturers, governments and
companies identifying that savings on energy, CO2 emissions and resources could be
attained through the recycling and reusing of glass.
5.2 Reuse and Recycling of glass culets
Before discussing the recycling of glass, it is worth mentioning other options for the
reuse of glass briefly. For instants in the UK, high volumes of returnable glass where
reused, this process seemed very beneficial and sustainable, as no reprocessing prior
to reutilization was needed. The shift towards this type of reutilization process, did
not work out. The main reason for this was a consequence of the shift towards
globalization. Referring to the fact after exportation of glass containers, empty
containers had to be returned. This proved to be highly uneconomical, and as a
consequence, many countries decided that the recovery of glass bottles was
superfluous and too expensive.
Following the decrease in reuse of returnable glass, governments and companies
started to focus on the recycling of culet. These processes consisted of recycling as
many culets as possible and reintroduce them to the furnaces. This would mean that
the already used glass culets would be re-melted and mixed with the other raw
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materials, this process could be performed indefinitely as no loss in performance
would be made. (This was only possible for container glass, other types of glass such
as flat glass would lose quality) This process was not as easy for everyone, as
explained throughout this dissertation, the development of this process depended on
the waste collection schemes and rates of various countries. For instance in Western
European countries, the separation and collection of waste was highly efficient.
Whilst for other countries such as the UK and Eastern European countries have more
difficulty recycling as all the waste collection is mixed. The following requirements
are crucial before entering the culets in the furnace:
• Color Sorting of glass
• 90% is culet limit that can be re-entered in furnace
• Electronic Eye needs to be used before reuse
These requirements are crucial due to the fact that even in the best regulated countries
when it comes to recycling, such as Belgium & Netherlands, glass will be mixed with
other wastes. These other materials will vary from plastic, metals and paper. The use
of the electronic eye is therefore crucial before re-entering the culets back into the
furnace as this sorting equipment threw the help of air jets will be able to identify
other waste (rogue particles) and remove them.
5.3 Environmental benefits of recycling glass
The recycling of glass has many environmental benefits, as a first the fact that a raw
material will be reused and thrown back into the product life cycle, is a custom that is
an indispensable aspect of sustainable expansion. Yet, there are obviously more
meaningful benefits of recycling glass. Glass for hundreds of years when used, was
then used as landfill, this was harmful to the earth due to the fact that glass does not
decompose. As a consequence in order to move towards a more sustainable future,
reduction in landfill is crucial. The last and most crucial benefit of glass recycling will
be in the return of culets to the glassmaking process. This process will reduce the
energy consumption and the CO2 emission of the glass creation method. Figure 8
gives an estimate of the energy that can be saved.
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Figure
8
-‐
Illustration
of
Energy
Saved
Due
to
Reuse
of
Glass
Culets
Source: Glassforeurope.com, 2015
5.4 The Growth of Glass Recycling
As a conclusion to this dissertation an analysis on the growth potential of the glass
industry and to what extent is the recycling of glass becoming significant in the
development of green energies in Europe. The recycling of glass, as mentioned started
in the 1970s, this movement was like now driven by increased environmental
concerns. Through the years the levels of glass recycling have increased steadily, in a
vast amount of European countries. For example, the Netherlands, by 1994, had
achieved to recycle 77% of their glass consumption. The Netherlands has therefore
achieved the highest glass-recycling rate of the whole of Europe. The UKs
performance was still far behind the set regulations. By 2001, the UK had achieved
their all time high rates of 50%, this increase were driven by new regulations set by
the Packaging and waste directive. Those new regulations meant that increased
responsibilities were placed upon producers and handlers of packaging. These new
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legislations proved to be effective as recycling rates where reaching new highs. But
these ended up dropping back to 25-40%. (British Glass, 2003) When looking at the
secondary data mentioned here above, it is clear to see that governments have been
pushing forward the recycling for many years and will keep doing so. And as industry
specialists such as Hourquebie (2015) and Candidate 6 (2015) keep mentioning
throughout their questionnaire answers, that as a first it is very likely that energy, will
be more expensive in 20 years. And secondly the most important point in my opinion
is that the amount of mineral resources available for production will continue to
shrink. This will keep happening whilst the population of the world will increase and
demand more glass products. Therefore as the primary data explains over and over,
the recycling of glass will become imperative in the future development of this earth.
Figure 9 shows the development of the glass recycled from 1980 up to 2010, as can be
seen the curve is solely moving upwards, from all mentioned above, it should be clear
and certain that it will keep moving that direction.
Figure
9
-‐
Evolution
of
Glass
Recycled
In
Europe
Source: Glassforeurope.com, 2015
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Chapter 6 - Bibliography
6.1 Academic Journals
Bloemhof-Ruwaard, Jacqueline M. et al. 'Interactions Between Operational Research
And Environmental Management'. European Journal of Operational Research 85.2
(1995): 229-243. Web.
Bragg L. 'Glass Bottle Recycling Benefits And Barriers'. GlassWorks (2013): n. pag.
Print.
Bryman A. 'Of Methods And Methodology'. Qual Research in Orgs & Mgmt 3.2
(2008): 159-168. Web.
Bryman A. And Bell, E. (2011) Business research methods. Oxford: Oxfor Univ.
Press.
Davidson L. 'Qualitative Research Methods In Psychology: Introduction Through
Empirical Studies'. Journal of Phenomenological Psychology 38.1 (2007): 151-154.
Web.
Fleischmann M. et al. 'A Characterisation Of Logistics Networks For Product
Recovery'. Omega 28.6 (2000): 653-666. Web.
Giovanni A. and Noci G. 'Seeing Ecology And “Green” Innovations As A Source Of
Change'. Journal of OrgChange Mgmt 11.2 (1998): 94-111. Web.
Krapp A. 'Interest, Motivation And Learning: An Educational-Psychological
Perspective'. European Journal of Psychology of Education 14.1 (1999): 23-40. Web.
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Lampe M. and Gregory M. Gazda. 'Green Marketing In Europe And The United
States: An Evolving Business And Society Interface'. International Business Review
4.3 (1995): 295-312. Web.
Marsh A.H. and Garnham A. 'Investigation, Hazard Assessment And Remediation Of
Existing Landfills'. Geological Society, London, Engineering Geology Special
Publications 11.1 (1996): 3-7. Web.
Murphy P.R. and Richard F.P. 'Green Perspectives And Practices: A “Comparative
Logistics” Study'. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal 8.2 (2003):
122-131. Web.
Reichardt C.S. and Cook T.D. Qualitative And Quantitative Methods In Evaluation
Research. Beverly Hills, Calif.: Sage Publications, 1979. Print.
Remenyi, D. and Brown A. European Conference On Research Methodology For
Business And Management Studies. [Reading]: [MCIL], 2003. Print.
Sedgwick, P. 'Snowball Sampling'. BMJ 347.dec20 2 (2013): f7511-f7511. Web.
Thierry M. et al. 'Strategie Issues In Product Recovery Management'. California
Management Review 37.2 (1995): 114-135. Web.
Thormark, C. 'Conservation Of Energy And Natural Resources By Recycling
Building Waste'. Resources, Conservation and Recycling 33.2 (2001): 113-130. Web.
Tyskeng, S. and Finnveden G.. 'Comparing Energy Use And Environmental Impacts
Of Recycling And Waste Incineration'. Journal of Environmental Engineering 136.8
(2010): 744-748. Web.
Van Hoek R.I. 'From Reversed Logistics To Green Supply Chains'. Supply Chain
Management: An International Journal 4.3 (1999): 129-135. Web.
51.
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6.2 Books
Atkinson, W, and R New. An Overview Of The Impact Of Source Separation
Schemes On The Domestic Waste Stream In The UK And Their Relevance To The
Government's Recycling Target. Stevenage: Warren Spring Laboratory, 1993. Print.
Saunders et al., Research Methods For Business Students. Harlow, England: Pearson,
2012. Print.
Berg B.L. Qualitative Research Methods For The Social Sciences. Boston: Allyn &
Bacon, 2009. Print.
6.3 Government Publication
Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs,. Glass Packaging Recycling:
Proposed Changes To Business Target. London: DEFRA, 2005. Print.
6.4 Magazines
Schab T. 'How Long Does It Take For A Glass Bottle To Degrade In A Landfill?'.
Global Post. Web. 6 Mar. 2015.
6.5 Reports
Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy,. Guide To Purchasing Green Power. U.S.
Department of Energy, 2010. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. Renewable Electricity, Renewable
Energy Certificates, And On-Site Renewable Generation.
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European Environment Agency,. Reducing Air Pollution From Electricity-Generating
Large Combustion Plants In The European Union. Demmark: European Environment
Agency, 2013. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. An Assessment Of Potential Emission Reductions.
O’Connor C. Group SIE,. Green Power Initiative At HWS. 2010. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.
Green Powers.
Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology,. Recycling Household Waste.
London: POCT, 2005. Web. 20 Apr. 2015. Recycling.
Ray Georgeson Resources Ltd & Friends of the Earth,. More Jobs, Less Waste. UK:
URSUS Consulting, 2010. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. Potential For Job Creation Through
Higher Rates Of Recycling In The UK And EU.
6.6 Websites
Britglass.org.uk,. 'Glass Manufacturing - British Glass'. N.p., 2014. Web. 8 Apr.
2015.
Britglass.org.uk,. Glass Recycling Lifecycle - British Glass'. N.p., 2003. Web. 20 Apr.
2015.
Conserve-Energy-Future,. 'Importance Of Recycling'. N.p., 2013. Web. 3 Apr. 2015.
Glassallianceeurope.eu,. 'Glass Industries - Glass Alliance Europe'. N.p., 2015. Web.
6 Mar. 2015.
Glassforeurope.com,. 'Flat Glass Industry Facts And Figures'. N.p., 2015. Web. 24
Apr. 2015.
Green-e.org,. 'Welcome To Green-E!'. N.p., 2015. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.
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Ilsr.org,. 'Institute For Local Self-Reliance | Building Community, Strengthening
Economies'. N.p., 2014. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.
Nrdc.org,. 'NRDC: The Past, Present And Future Of Recycling'. N.p., 2015. Web. 20
Apr. 2015.
Unknown. (2013). Facts on Glass and Glass Recycling. Available:
http://www.berrymanglassrecycling.com/glass-recycling/facts-on-glass-glass-
recycling/. Last accessed 21th Apr 2015.
Unknown. (2005). Waste Management to Zero Waste to Landfill Waste Prevention.
Available: http://www.valpak.co.uk/waste-recycling. Last accessed 21th Apr 2015.
Wasteonline.org.uk,. 'Waste Online Homepage'. N.p., 2005. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.
Yarow, Jay. 'The 15 Worst Companies For The Planet'. Business Insider. N.p., 2009.
Web. 4 Apr. 2015.
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Chapter
7
-‐
Appendices
7.1 Questionnaire Introduction Page
My name is Stanislas Emsens, I am currently undertaking an International Business
degree at the Regent’s University in London. This International Business degree
consists of undertaking a dissertation as part of the final semester to our program. In
order to conduct a well-structured dissertation secondary data will have to be
collected from sources such as books, reports, academic journals, etc. Simultaneously,
primary data will need to be collected, I have decided to do this through the hand of
questionnaires. The primary data collected will help me gain greater understanding of
the problems and challenges the industry is facing. My research question is based
upon analyzing the future of the glass recycling industry with on insight of current
glass recycling market in Europe compares to the UK glass recycling at the moment.
At the end of the dissertation if will need to conduct a discussion and findings chapter
where I will need to discuss the arguments that have been created on the basis of
comparing the primary and secondary data. This is where your help in answering the
following questions will help my judgment, and allow me to give a more critical and
in depth perspective on this subject. It is therefore why I ask you to answer this
questionnaire to the best of your ability. If you wish to answer them in a language
other then English, please feel free to do so. Please return the answers to the following
e-mail address; emsens.stanislas@gmail.com
The use of my responses to the questionnaires, can be used in the dissertation, and
referred back to myself: Yes / No
Thank you very much in advance,
Stanislas Emsens
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55
7.2 Candidates for Questionnaires
Name Position Company Date
Delterne Christian General Manager Minérale and High
5
17-05-2015
Baccani Corrado Head Of Glass
Recycling
Sibelco 21-05-2015
Ska Boadouin Secretary General Verver (European
Commision)
16-05-2015
Hourquebie Sylvain Comercial and
Marketing Director
Sibelco Green
Solutions
24-05-2015
Candidate 5 Retired CFO / 20-05-2015
Candidate 6 Head Of Factory / 12-05-2015
7.3 Questionnaire Questions Sample
1. To your knowledge how long has it been since companies have started to put
effort in the recycling of glass rather then just producing new glass? How long
has it been where you are working now?
2. How has the glass recycling industry evolved since you have been working in
it?
3. Has the Manufacturing process of flat and container glass changed since you
started?
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56
4. Do you think European countries are pushing the recovery and recycling of
glass enough, or should governments do more?
5. Governments are giving subsidies towards the use of renewable energies, do
you think they should do the same and give subsidies to companies in order to
motivate them to recycle their glass?
6. Through the recycling of glass there are many environmental benefits, what is,
in your opinion the greatest advantage and reasons for pushing forwards glass
recycling?
7. Is the glass recycling industry reaching its highest point or is there still a lot of
room for the industry to evolve?
8. Some countries in Europe are already quite developed when looking at the
glass recycling statistics. (E.g. Benelux, Germany, France) Are these countries
achieving better results due to higher government policies or is it something
else? What can countries do to increase the recycling and the reutilization of
their glass?
9. Is the recycling of glass done solely for profitable reasons, or are companies
trying to push forward the fact that they are becoming more environmentally
friendly.
10. What is the future of the glass recycling in Europe? Does it have a lot of
potential or is it just too expensive and is something that will never grow
much more then the levels the industry is achieving today?
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7.4 Questionnaire 1
Name, Job title and organisation name: Candidate 1, Deltenre Christian, General
Manager at Minérale and High 5
The use of my responses to the questionnaires, can be used in the dissertation, and
referred back to myself: Yes
1. To your knowledge how long has it been since companies have started to put
effort in the recycling of glass rather then just producing new glass? How
long has it been where you are working now?
I think that since the beginning of the history of the Humanity, the human being
recycles. I think that when the “Grün” took some importance in Germany, this
country organized quickly the collection and this was the start of the glass recycling
in Europe.
Personally, my first contact with the recycling of glass happened in the year 1996. It
was very raw: one conveyor belt and ten people removing manually the main
impurities…
The glass industry has always been interested by the use of culets, but at the start of
this history, the collection of raw material was poor and the technical possibilities of
the recyclers were also very weak.
2. How has the glass recycling industry evolved since you have been working in
it?
I’m involved in the glass business (part time since 1 996) and full time since 2006.
The glass industry has drastically involved and took all the possible actions to get
more and more culets in the furnace. As the evolution of the technology by the glass
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58
recyclers, the glass industry increases systematically his requirements regarding the
quality of the culets.
It’s sure now that the evolution of the quality of the culets is especially dependent of
the evolution of the technology of the optical sorters. Because these machines are
based on computer technology, the possibilities remain very impressive.
As result, how more quality culets are available by the glass recyclers, how more the
glass industry will use in his furnace.
3. Has the Manufacturing process of flat and container glass changed since you
started?
Basically, not very much, for so far I know. It’s an old industry and the always use a
furnace but it ‘sure that a lot of improvements have been done by the glass
industry…. It’s sure that the energy consumption has been optimized, that the process
control is now largely done by sophisticated programs and we can see that the
diversity and the high quality of the products are widely used, especially the flat glass
4. Do you think European countries are pushing the recovery and recycling of
glass enough, or should governments do more?
Some countries with a high density of population are collecting and recycling at
maximum levels (Belgium, the Netherlands).
It’s today a general interest to collect and recycle more glass. The demand of culets is
high, it’s a common interest to collect and recycle this type of waste. As result, other
European countries (France, Spain) and countries of East Europe will see more and
more opportunities (also economic) to collect more.
