Europe – The end-of-waste criteria for glass that were drawn up earlier this year by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) have been officially adopted and are due to be published shortly in the Official Journal of the European Union, at which point member states will have six months to implement them.
The new criteria demand that the glass cullet must be of ‘a quality suitable for remelting’ into bottles or other products such as fibreglass. The criteria set limits for the amount of contaminants allowed in the glass cullet, such as metals, organics and stones, in order for it to be categorised as a secondary raw material.
Meanwhile, cullet sent for use in aggregates is still to be defined as waste. Rebecca Cocking, Head of Container Affairs at British Glass, states: ‘If aggregates are still defined as waste, then those handling them will require waste transfer notes, permits, etc. It won’t mean an end to aggregates but may deter people from taking the easier option.’
The JRC estimates that well over 80% of glass collected throughout Europe will meet the specified criteria after proper sorting and treatment.
This development follows the end-of-waste criteria already agreed for aluminium, iron and steel back in 2011. Criteria for copper scrap and recovered paper are also in the pipeline.
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