The-bottle-recycling-process

the_bottle_recycling_process_-_national_science_week_2022 (540p)

 

 

[Image appears of a glass roof, and then images move through of water running down glass, water being poured into glass, and a hand cleaning glass with a cloth]

 

Narrator: Glass, we all use it every day,

 

[Image changes to show orange juice in a glass, and then the image changes to show a hand turning on a lamp]

 

from enjoying your juice in the morning, to lighting up your bedroom, and keeping you warm inside.

 

[Images move through of bottles on a conveyer belt, a small puppy barking at its reflection in a mirrored wardrobe door, and water being poured into a glass]

 

You might not realise it but glass is by your side all day.

 

[Image changes to show a glass bottle on a blue screen, and text appears: So, what is glass?]

 

So, what is glass?

 

[Image shows a recycling bin moving up from the bottom of the screen to cover the glass bottle]

 

And what happens to it when we put our empty juice bottle into the recycling bin?

 

[Image changes to show three circles, and text appears inside: Silicone sand, Soda ash, Limestone]

 

Glass is made from three main materials: silicone sand, soda ash, and limestone.

 

[Image changes to show sand pouring onto a pile, and then the image shows the sand moving up a conveyer belt, and then the image shows the liquid glass dripping down from a heated tank]

 

This sand combination is heated at a very high temperature, until it melts into a liquid.

 

[Image changes to show glass bottles being made and moving along a conveyer belt]

 

While it’s a liquid we can mould it into whatever shape we want but glass takes a lot of energy to make. So, that’s why we try to recycle as much as possible.

 

[Image changes to show a hand placing a glass bottle into a recycling bin, and then the image changes to show glass bottles being stood up in a box]

 

We can use old glass to make new things, all while saving energy.

 

[Image changes to show broken glass piles]

 

Let’s take a ride through the glass recycling process.

 

[Image changes to show a tractor scooping up piles of rubbish, and then the image changes to show recycling products on a scalping screen]

 

At most facilities all the recycling gets dumped into a scalping screen, which sorts glass from the other recyclables.

 

[Image changes to show a view looking down on a number of scalping screens moving up with recycled containers on them]

 

The glass shatters when it drops through the screen.

 

[Image changes to show a pile of broken green glass bottles]

 

It’s then collected and taken to a recovery bin.

 

[Image changes to show a small pile of different coloured broken glass, and then the image shows the broken glass all separating into the various colours]

 

Once we have separated the glass, it needs to be sorted again but this time by colour, clear, brown, amber, or green.

 

[Image changes to show a ceramic plate, and then four light bulbs appear around the ceramic plate]

 

This is important because other types of glass such as ceramic plates and light globes can’t be part of this recycling process.

 

[Image changes to show a view looking down on coloured broken glass rotating in a clockwise direction, and then the image changes to show the glass being poured into a furnace]

 

Our colourful glass is taken to a different area where it is crushed into small pieces.

 

[Image changes to show glass moving around in a hot furnace, and then the image changes to show the glass dripping down from the furnace]

 

Then we add it to a really hot furnace, melt it down, and mould it into something new.

 

[Image changes to show bottles being manufactured, and then the image changes to show bottles moving along a conveyer belt]

 

If the glass is too small to be made back into bottles, it gets crushed into sand which can then be used for other things.

 

[Image changes to show a view looking down on lines in the middle of a road, and the camera pans along the road]

 

The new glass sand can be mixed into paint and used to draw the lines and markings we see on the roads.

 

[Image changes to show the lines on the road lit up at night as a car moves along the road]

 

The glass makes the paint shiny, and helps you to see the lines at night.

 

[Image changes to show a view looking down on a busy highway]

 

It can also be used in the roads.

 

[Image changes to show a roller rolling newly laid asphalt, and then the image changes to show workers spreading asphalt on the road]

 

We can sometimes use the recycled glass sand in the asphalt mixture.

 

[Image changes to show an animation image of a house being put together]

 

Some companies are even using glass in the building blocks of houses.

 

[Image changes to show a circle on a blue screen, and text appears inside: Circular economy]

 

This whole recycling process is part of something we call the circular economy.

 

[Image changes to show an animation showing a factory joined by a line to a bin, and the image shows bags of rubbish moving from the factory to the bin]

 

Today humans are living with a linear economy which produces way too much waste.

 

[Image changes to show a rocky escarpment being blown up, and then the image changes to show a view of many Smartphones]

 

A linear economy is where we take resources from the environment, make products like phones, and dispose of them when we’re finished.

 

[Image changes to show a dozer pushing up piles of rubbish while seagulls fly overhead, and black lines appear through the screen, and then the image changes to show a close view of piles of rubbish]

 

It’s like a straight line with a start and a finish line, but our linear economy can’t go on forever.

 

[Image changes to show a view looking up at clouds in the sky, and text appears: Circular economy]

 

We’re working to switch to a circular economy which has no finish line.

 

[Image changes to show recycled material emerging from a chute into a bale, and then the image changes to show green bottles moving along a conveyer belt]

 

Instead of just throwing things in the bin, we want them to be reused to make something else just like we did with our glass.

 

[Image changes to show the CSIRO logo on a white screen, and text appears: Australia’s National Science Agency]