Introduction to Recycled Glass
Glass recycling is a process through which waste glass is recycled into usable products. The glass is crushed and melted under high temperatures and a cullet is formed. Glass is made from readily-available domestic materials, such as sand, soda ash, limestone and “cullet”, the industry term for furnace-ready recycled glass. There are two types of cullet. The internal cullet is a composition of defective products that are detected and rejected by the quality control system during the glass manufacturing process, product changes and production cuts. The external cullet is a waste glass that is reprocessed for recycling purposes.
The waste glass should be contamination free. It is processed for purification and the glass maintains its properties of color even after the process of recycling. Clear, green and brown (amber) colors are common among waste plastics. Typical waste material such as paper, caps, PVB foils, stones and metals, for instance, ferrous and lead are carefully removed from the glass in order to make it recyclable. The recyclable glass is then substituted for up to 95% of raw materials in various products and this further finds its applications in reusable water bottles along with as an aggregate in concrete. The properties of tensile strength and thermal insulation of the glass is the value added to the concrete. Glass bottles and jars are 100% recyclable and can be recycled endlessly without any loss in purity or quality.
Market Size and Forecast
Alarming levels of glass wastes in the ocean, its effects on aquatic life and waste management practices are some of the significant factors boosting the market growth. Additionally, these recycled glasses serve as a cheap raw material for packaging and other industries. Driven by these prominent features along with favorable government regulations for proper disposal and recycling, the global recycled glass market is estimated to grow with a significant CAGR during the forecast period, i.e., 2020-2028. The market is segmented by product, by application, by source, by end user and by region. The product segment is further segmented into cullet, crushed glass and glass powder. Out of these, the leading share is estimated to be held by cullet on account of ease of processing it into recycled glass. On the basis of applications of recycled glass, the market is further segmented into fiberglass insulation, bottles and containers, ceramic sanitary ware, brick manufacture, water filtration, abrasives and others, out of which, the bottles and containers segment is estimated to hold largest share as the bottles are highly preferred among the consumers owing to its low-cost and reusability. CLICK TO DOWNLOAD SAMPLE REPORT
Growth Drivers
Favorable government regulations and waste management practices
According to the World Bank, the urban population accounted for 55.27% of the total population globally in the year 2018. This led to a significant amount of waste disposal into the water bodies resulting in destruction of aquatic habitat. UNESCO, points out that, 30-35% of the global extent of critical marine habitats such as sea grass, mangroves and coral reefs are estimated to have been destroyed and if the current path of irresponsible human behavior continues, by the year 2100, more than 50% of the marine species might stand on the brink of extinction. To address this, governments from all across the world have passed some stringent laws and industry scale recycling practices have been put in place to control the waste and to increase awareness towards recycling. These are some of the considerable factors that are estimated to promote the growth of the market.
Restraints
Complex Sorting processes and Contamination
The potential factor that is estimated to negatively affect the growth of the market is the level of complexity associated with sorting recycled glass without contamination by undesirable materials present in the product waste stream that could lead to downgraded product or a potentially useless product.
Market Segmentation
Our in-depth analysis of the recycled glass market includes the following segments:
By Product
- Cullet
- Crushed Glass
- Glass powder
By Application
- Fiberglass insulation
- Bottles and Containers
- Ceramic sanitary ware
- Brick manufacture
- Water filtration
- Abrasives
- Others
By source
- Dump yards
- Drop Off/Buy back centers
- Curbside pickups
By End User
- Sanitation
- Construction
- Packaging
- Others
By Region
On the basis of regional analysis, the recycled glass market is segmented into five major regions including North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa region. The market in North America is anticipated to hold the largest share in the market on account of presence of leading market players in the region which manufacture and market recycled glass. Moreover, the technology associated with glass recycling and government policies in this region increase the product demand. The market in Europe region is predicted to grow at the highest rate during the forecast period as a result of growing awareness and initiatives towards recycling glass in the region. The rising awareness pertaining to utilization of ecofriendly materials in the region, especially in countries such as Germany, UK and France is further resulting in the increased demand for recycled glass.
The recycled glass market is further classified on the basis of region as follows:
- North America (U.S. & Canada) Market size, Y-O-Y growth & Opportunity Analysis
- Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Rest of Latin America) Market size, Y-O-Y growth & Opportunity Analysis
- Europe (U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Hungary, Belgium, Netherlands & Luxembourg, NORDIC, Poland, Turkey, Russia, Rest of Europe) Market size, Y-O-Y growth & Opportunity Analysis
- Asia-Pacific (China, India, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Rest of Asia-Pacific) Market size, Y-O-Y growth & Opportunity Analysis.
- Middle East and Africa (Israel, GCC (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman), North Africa, South Africa, Rest of Middle East and Africa) Market size, Y-O-Y growth & Opportunity Analysis
Top Featured Companies Dominating the Market
- Strategic Materials, Inc.
- Company Overview
- Business Strategy
- Key Product Offerings
- Financial Performance
- Key Performance Indicators
- Risk Analysis
- Recent Development
- Regional Presence
- SWOT Analysis
- Vetropack
- United Resource Management
- GLASS RECYCLED SURFACES
- Momentum Recycling, LLC
- Dlubak Glass Company
- Vitro Minerals, Inc.
- Gallo Glass Company
- Consol
