Facts About Clear Glass

Clear glass is known in the industry as “colorless” glass. To make colorless glass, manufacturers separate iron-oxide out of sand so that no color appears.  Colorless glass needs to be separated from other glass colors to ensure that it stays clear.  

Colorless glass is often used as a container for household food products such as pasta sauce and salsa and is also used for certain types of beer and liquor.  Companies often like the fact that consumers can see the product inside through the glass. 

The Glass Business

The U.S. is home to over 49 glass manufacturing plants and 65 cullet processing plants. A typical plant can process 20 tons of glass each hour.  The glass container industry is worth 5.5 billion dollars. 

Glass and Recycling

• In January of 2008, North Carolina became the first state to mandate that bars must recycle glass containers.
• Glass can be recycled indefinitely and not lose its quality.
• The energy saved by recycling one glass bottle is enough to light a 100-watt light bulb for four hours.  
• Glass can go from the recycling bin to the supermarket shelf in 30 days. 
• Cullet requires a lower heating temperature than glass from raw materials, thus requiring 40 percent less energy.