The end of the glass recycling industry in Israel?

Ideal material for recycling

The great advantage of glass over other materials is that in the production of new glass you can use old glass as a raw material, without harming the quality of the product. This is true recycling, where the recycled material can be used for the same purpose for which it was originally used - for example, to make new bottles from old bottles. This process is different from the plastic "recycling" process, where plastic from recycled bottles is turned into plastic chips, which are considered an inferior raw material, and cannot be used to produce plastic bottles of the same quality.

Recycling glass has other clear advantages: if it is not recycled, it is piled up in landfills along with other materials and makes it difficult to continue treating them. Glass that is buried in the ground is expected to disintegrate in only about a million years (!). Also, the glass is mostly made of quartz, which is a crystal found in sand, and therefore using recycled glass prevents sand mining, which has far-reaching environmental consequences.

All these make glass an ideal material for recycling. But what happens to her in practice, in the Israel of 2017? Let's sort things out and check what happens to the glass in both routes - in the deposit and in the purple bins. The starting point is that in Israel, 110 tons of packaging and glass bottles are marketed to the public per year, according to the estimate of the Ministry of Environmental Protection. Let's see what happens to them.

Bottles in deposit: recycled, but abroad

Before the deposit law came into effect in 1999, most of the glass packaging sold in Israel ended up, as mentioned, in landfills. This situation changed after the application of the deposit law, under which the public receives an incentive to return glass bottles for a deposit to the supermarkets - from there they are transferred to the recycling corporations for recycling. Since the application of the law, The recycling percentage of the drink bottles in the deposit increased steadily from year to year. Last year, for example, approximately 57 tons of glass were collected and recycled by the AL Recycling Corporation and approximately 6,000 additional tons by the Asofta Corporation, out of the approximately 80 tons of glass bottles on deposit that are marketed to the public per year - a total of 77 percent recycling.

So indeed, a large part of the glass bottles in the deposit was indeed collected for recycling. But what happens to them there? It turns out that Israel transfers the glass collected from the public to several destinations, with 60 percent being transferred to export, and then 28 percent to the "Penicia" glass factory in Yeruham, which produces glass from it (and needs glass separated for colors in the production process), and the remaining 12 percent was transferred to the factory. Ecoglass" in the north of the country, which we will expand on later - and today they are also exported Abroad. It turns out that today about 72 percent of the glass handled by AL is exported, most of it to Italy.

Although exporting the bottles for recycling abroad is better than burying them with the rest of the garbage in Israel, exporting waste abroad involves transporting it over a long distance and therefore increases the environmental cost of the recycling process, because transporting the glass abroad consumes a lot of energy and causes the emission of greenhouse gases. Also, exporting glass abroad breaks the cycle of local consumption and recycling, according to which the waste returns to the local industry as a raw material. Exporting waste even goes against several international treaties. It turns out that most of the glass bottles collected for recycling are actually exported abroad in a process that does not benefit the environment.

Glass packaging: zero percent recycling

And what about glass packages that are not drink bottles and therefore there is no deposit on them? Among them are, among others, jars of jam, honey and coffee, containers of various sauces, bottles of olive oil, vinegar, perfumes and more. According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, these constitute about 25-30 percent of all the glass packaging marketed in Israel. Since all of these were not included in the deposit law, most of them continued to end their lives in landfills.

The change came as a result of the 2011 Packaging Law, under which the responsibility for collecting and recycling non-deposited packaging waste was placed on the manufacturers and importers, and thus the "Tamir" recycling corporation was established, which placed special purple containers in some of the authorities for collecting glass containers. Today, there are already about 4,200 such bins scattered throughout the country, and the Ministry of Environmental Protection plans to expand their retirement through "Tamir" to 5,000 by the end of 2018. The glass is collected separately from the rest of the packaging, which is collected in the orange bin (and there are more than a hundred thousand of these in Israel, by comparison) , and this is in order to maintain the safety of the workers in the sorting line of the recycling plant and to prevent damage to the recycling line itself.

However, it turns out that only about 1,500 tons of glass were collected in the purple bins in 2014 out of 30 tons of glass packaging that were sold, and about 3,000 tons in 2015. It also turns out that out of the 1,500 tons of glass collected in the purple bins in 2014, only 619 tons are packaging Glass for which a deposit is not applicable, and the rest are drink bottles with a deposit, which the public threw into the purple bins by mistake, instead of returning to the supermarket. The public is probably confused by the fact that some of the glass packaging must be returned to the supermarket and a deposit refunded, and the rest must be thrown in the purple bin. That's why some of the drink bottles in deposit find their way to the purple bin.

And so, in the bottom line, only 619 tons of glass packaging out of 30 thousand tons of glass packaging sold in Israel that are not bottles on deposit found their place in the purple recycling bins. This is only 2 percent recycling. But now it turns out that it doesn't end here: of the 619 tons of glass for recycling that "Tamir" reported to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, 0 percent (!) was recognized by the ministry as glass that was indeed recycled.

The reason for this lies in the "Ecoglass" factory in the Reina industrial area near Nazareth, to which "Tamir" transferred the glass. according to "Ecoglass" Facebook page, the factory shreds the glass and produces from it fillers for asphalt, building blocks, ground coverings and more. But according to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the absolute majority of the glass - at least 80 percent - is crushed and piled near the factory without being transferred for further treatment.

For this reason, the ministry did not at all recognize the glass that was transferred to "Ecoglass" as glass that was returned, and as of 2016 most of the glass is no longer transferred to "Ecoglass" but for export, most of it to Italy and a minority to Portugal. Starting that year, the glass in deposit from the AL collection system, which was previously sent to "Ecoglass", was also directed to export. And exporting, as we have already mentioned, has a heavy economic and environmental price and also, the situation is contrary toPackaging Law, which states that up to 20 percent of the waste collected for recycling can be exported.

Fragile reality

If so, where is the bottleneck? What causes the recycling percentages of the non-deposit glass packaging to be so low in the end? According to CPA Ronit Abrahami from the Manufacturer's Liability Division at the Ministry of Environmental Protection, this is related to several factors, including the fact that two different recycling laws apply to glass bottles and jars (the Packaging Law and the Deposit Law) and also that the purple bins are not sufficiently accessible to the public: their disposal is very limited and they are only found at central recycling points (and not near any common building).

In view of the situation, the Ministry of Environmental Protection reduced the recycling target of the glass that is not on deposit for the "Tamir" corporation from 55 percent as stipulated in the Packaging Law to a much lower target - 22 percent, and defined a retirement plan for the purple bins in collaboration with the corporation. About the glass recycling targets defined in the packaging law, Abrahami says: "They rely on the European packaging laws and especially on the Belgian law. However, in Israel, compared to Europe, there is a small consumption of beverages such as wine and beer, and in addition, glass beverage containers are not defined as packaging because the deposit law applies to them, so these goals are not suitable for Israel and they are being re-examined.'

Therefore, most of the glass waste currently collected in Israel is sent for recycling abroad. Deposited glass bottles, which make up 70-75 percent of the glass packaging marketed in Israel, are recycled at a rate of 77 percent - but most of them are sent abroad and are not recycled in Israel. Regarding the glass packaging that is not bottles in the deposit, which make up about 25-30 percent of all glass packaging, the situation is much more difficult: consumers are expected to throw them in the purple bins, but only a few percent of all glass packaging reaches them. Even what was collected, and until recently sent to the "Ecoglass" recycling plant in the north of the country, is now being transferred for export. The reasons for the low recycling rates of the glass packaging are probably the limited retirement of the bins, the confusion with the deposit law and most likely also the lack of economic incentive for the consumer - after all, glass packages that are not in a deposit are not refunded.

In the meantime, the Ministry of Environmental Protection plans to place additional purple bins throughout the country and lowers the recycling targets for "Tamir" glass to change the situation. And the question arises: if it is so easy to recycle glass, then why is it so difficult?

comments

The Ministry of Environmental Protection stated in response:

"First, it should be emphasized that the Packaging Law includes packaging of any type of material, including glass, for example coffee, jam, etc. Also, the Packaging Law contains an explicit exclusion of small drinking containers to which the deposit law does apply. As for returning glass bottles to the supermarket, there is no place For confusion, there is a marking known to the general public - a deposit of 30 AJ is required, which can be found on the containers if there is any doubt as to whether The container is in deposit.

As for the purple containers, 4,200 purple containers for glass packaging are currently scattered throughout the country. At the end of the process, 5,000 purple containers will be spread out and accordingly, the collection is increasing.

It should be noted that the ministry does not hold discussions about legislative amendments that will lead to a change in the small beverage container market, and the handling of small beverage containers, including those made of glass, is under the deposit law. According to the law, the manufacturers and importers, through the recycling corporation, must meet recycling goals and transfer the packaging to recognized recycling in recycling plants regulated by law. The recycling targets are set by law - reducing them requires a legislative amendment by the Knesset.

The glass packaging that was reported to have been treated at the Ecoglass factory (619 tons) was not recognized as recognized recycling for the purposes of the recycling goals. The reason the glass garden was not recognized as being returned is because the glass was piled up on the site without being transferred for further treatment. Also, it is important to note that the maximum recycling in Ecoglass is 20 percent.

As for export, starting in 2016 the glass collected by Tamir (purple bins) as well as the part of the collection system of AL that was previously transferred to Ecoglass is now transferred to export, mainly to Italy and a minority to Portugal."

The AL recycling corporation stated in response:

"All the materials collected by AL are transferred to the use, first and foremost, of the local industry, as much as it needs and can use them.

With regard to the glass material collected by AL, we note that it is sold as a first priority to the 'Penicia' factory in Byruham according to the need and the quantity it needs to produce new bottles. The remaining material is exported and sold to glass factories in European countries such as Italy and Portugal, which reuse it for the production of glass products New (mainly bottles and jars).

With reference to the 'Ecoglass' factory, it should be emphasized that for about two years the glass material was transferred to it and many resources and money were invested in it, subject to his promise to develop in Israel an optimal and economical recycling solution for the reuse of glass. Unfortunately, so far we have not been presented with effective and economical solutions for recycling the glass.

Furthermore, to the best of our tests, all the glass that was transferred to this factory was piled up in the factory's yard, and a comment on the matter was also forwarded to us from the supervising body in the Ministry of Environmental Quality, this is the reason why we had to look for other recycling solutions for glass, which we found in glass recycling factories abroad.

The recycling corporation "Tamir" responded:

"So far, about 4,200 purple containers for collecting glass packaging have been deployed in 198 local authorities, where 49 municipalities are regional councils that include 948 localities (ie a total of 1,097 localities where there is a purple bin). It is expected that in the next four years another 1,000 containers will be deployed to collect glass packaging waste (in the coming year, 220 purple containers are planned to be deployed in Tel Aviv and another 250 purple containers in Jerusalem).

Since the volume of glass packaging available in the market is low, the purple bins are placed in central locations throughout the municipalities and are not placed at the level of the condominium (compared to the orange bins which are placed at the level of the condominium).

The reasons for the low recycling percentages of the glass packaging in the purple bins are: a. The amount of glass packaging that is not in the deposit is low (it is about packaging of olive oil, perfumes, sauces, coffee, etc., which make up a small part of the daily consumer products) b. The bins are placed in central areas of the local authority and not at the condominium level. third. Educating the public about segregation is a process that takes time. We see an increase in the volume of glass collected, but the cooperation of the public still needs improvement.

The 'Ecoglass' factory did not receive a business license and closed its operations in Nazareth, so we transferred the handling of the collected glass to the Dashin site in Haifa where the glass is sorted and transported for export. The glass is sent to European countries (currently to Italy) for recycling and the production of other glass products."

The "Ecoglass" factory responded:

"The factory opened in 2014. Since then, it has received over two years through the recycling corporations Tamir, Asofta and AL 90 thousand tons of glass waste. This waste was cleaned of corks, labels, etc. and crushed. Of the 90 thousand tons, 70 thousand tons of crushed glass were sold to factories in Israel, For various uses: substitute for natural aggregate in an asphalt mixture, interlocking stones, and more in March 2016 they started exporting most of the glass abroad and we had to close the factory gates.

In Israel there are a number of barriers to the use of recycled materials in industry, among others the very low costs of natural aggregates. For example, the quarries in Israel pay ridiculous royalties of NIS 4 per ton, so why switch to recycled glass? When establishing a recycling plant, it takes time to develop products and markets and integrate the products into the market. When the glass is exported to European countries, the recycling corporation saves the cost of recycling in Israel because in Europe it has an economic value, while for the waste glass that is transferred to our factory, it pays a recycling fee for the treatment. If they allowed the process to develop, our treatment costs would decrease because the value of the raw material in the local market would increase."

Dr. Neta Lipman talks about glass recycling in Israel in the program "Close Accounts":