How much energy is saved by recycling a glass bottle?

Answer 1

This question may be nearly impossible to answer because of all the uncertainty involving the calculations, not to mention the disagreement that is likely to occur regarding where to draw the line on what energy is used directly and indirectly to make the bag. What I mean by that is do you count only the energy used by, say, the machines that process the raw materials that become the bags, or do you also count the energy used to make the raw materials and transport them to the plastic-bag factory? Do you count the energy used to power the lights in the factory? How about the soda machines in the cafeteria that serve the workers who make the bags? What about the computers used by the managers to oversee operations? If you do count those PCs, is it fair to count all the power they consume or just some, to account for the time when the PCs are used to surf the internet or to read email not directly related to the manufacture of the plastic bags? Having said all that, it's safe to say that the dollar cost of making a plastic bag is considerably less then the price of the bag, itself. So, if the market price of a bag is 25 cents, it's safe to assume the manufacturer's costs are much less. If it costs the manufacturer 15 cents to make, and if a third of that is the cost of energy, then about a nickel's worth of energy is used to make the bag. I guess the next step would be to figure how many kilowatt-hours a nickel will buy you.

Answer 2

Recycling a glass bottle saves around 30% of the energy compared to making a new glass bottle from raw materials. This energy saving comes from needing less fuel to melt down the glass and shape it into a new bottle.

Answer 3

It can run a PC for 3 hours and a T.V for 3.

Answer:

It is easier to discus this in terms of CO2 produced, the energy can then be identified from easily obtained CO2/energy factors for the power sources in each area.

Australian data indicates about 0.6 oz of CO2 is generated per oz of glass wine bottle produced.W ine bottles typically weighs about 23 oz, so about 13.8 oz of CO2 is generated for each glass wine bottle manufactured. As an aside, the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) reports that the manufacture of plastic drink bottles generates 1 oz of CO2 per oz of plastic bottle. However as plastic bottles weigh less than glass bottles each unit generates about 1.9 oz of CO2 . So manufacturing of a glass wine bottle produces 7.3 times more CO2 is generated than a plastic one. Recycling the bottle for re-use (not melting down and re-manufacture) saves all of the CO2 and thus all of the energy.

Answer 4

This is not an energy saving issue. There is a finite supply of aluminum and they are better off recycled from an environmental pollution standpoint. We do the recycling for pollution issues, not energy savings.

Answer 5

70% of all the things we throw in the recycle bin are recycled

Answer 6

You will save 2 kilos of oil by recycling 1 kilo of plastic.

Answer 7

Not being flippant, but glass is not made from oil. It is composed of silica, which is derived from sand.

Answer 8

6 Hours