Sažetak
Glass is a very widespread packaging material that is used every day (e.g. bottles for water, for children’s food, juices, beer, wine, glass jars for food preservation, etc.). The production of glass containers requires large amounts of raw materials, such as: silica sand, soda, dolomite, etc., and substantial quantities of energy since the production cycle is extremely energy- demanding. The aim of this paper is to present how the usage of waste glass in the production of glass packaging saves the raw materials for the production of glass, reduces energy necessary for the exploitation and melting of raw materials, thus preserving also the unrenewable sources of energy such as natural gas, fuel oil or electricity, which are mostly used as energy sources in the production of glass packaging. Besides, since fewer energy sources are used, the emission of harmful gases (CO2, NOX, particulates, etc.) into the environment is lower. By using glass cullet, which is obtained by waste glass recycling, the quantity of municipal waste is reduced, and in this way the environment is preserved as well.
Ključne riječi
Cullet; energy savings; glass packaging; glass recycling; waste management