STEEL RECYCLING AHEAD OF GLASS

With 70% of steel packaging being recycled across Europe in 2008, the steel industry remains ahead of glass, says the Association of European Producers of Steel for Packaging. Glass, however, comes close to steel on 65%, with cartons and plastics trailing at 33% and 29% respectively. Yet Belgium already achieves a 93% recycling rate for steel, followed by Germany on 89%, then Luxembourg and the Netherlands on 87%. The United Kingdom lags seriously on 62%, just behind Slovakia on 63%. The volumes collected for recycling are huge – 2.5 million tonnes of steel and 11.5 million tonnes of glass representing 25.5 billion bottles and jars. It’s a shame, though, that we don’t do better.