FERVER Position Paper: “black glass”: difficulties to recycle a recyclable material

30-08-2016

Recently there has been a troubling and increasing trend in some new products of the glass industry: the increasing production of non-transparent bottles and especially of so-called “black” glass UVAG (ultra violet adsorbing glass). 

Colours of a wide variety have been used for a long time in packaging glass. Recyclers can cope with this as long as the glass is reasonably transparent. This applies to extreme dark coloured glass, UVAG, and to most of the coated or painted packaging glass products.

The international recycling industry here faces a recyclability problem.