Why Should Our Priority Be Recycling Glass?

Photo credited by UK Green Home

Glass is one of the best things that are recyclable. It can be recycled again and again and be made into brand new products. This saves companies from making glass from new materials. "Over a ton of natural resources are saved for every ton of glass recycled." The furnace that remelts the glass saves more energy than if a company created new glass and so it can benefit companies. This helps lower emissions for our environment and also saves money in their wallets. The container industry buys 3 millions tons of recycled glass every year. Philadelphia could be making so much money if we recycled more glass and sold it to these type of companies. That money could be going towards green spaces and schools, so that the city is a better place to live. Poorer neighborhoods could improve their parks and schools with this money, giving them more reason to recycle.
Unfortunately many types of glass is not recyclable. Some examples are pyrex and windows. This makes glass end up in landfills which can make those trash sites really difficult to maintain. If the glass ends up at a recycling center it could slow down production and make defective products. People could fret about this problem, but I do not think it is a very big deal. Trash should be sorted at trash sites and stuff that is recyclable should be sent to the recycling center, and vice versa. This way the proper waste are at the proper centers. A way this problem could be fixed completely is by informing the public with block leaders and commercials. Another conflict that has arisen are with companies. There are color standards for glass, that ways it is easier for them to be recyclable and made into something else. In a way companies like to have complete control on their product design, but that is not the case. I feel that this is a small compromise they have to make to save the planet. All companies mainly care about it making money, and reusing glass saves them money. They should not pay extra for having a cool color for their glass bottles and I think that customers would not care what the bottle actually looks like, they care about the taste.
Recycling is so important, especially in a huge metropolitan city like Philadelphia. For six tons of recycled glass saves one ton of carbon dioxide. The city is polluted and we need to do our best and protect it before it becomes worse. If more and more carbon goes into the air then climate change could start happening faster than it already is. Waters will rise which could increase the Schuylkill River to flood even more. We could get cancer from breathing in all the fumes. This is not a good situation. Recycling is such a great way to solve some of our issues. Last year alone the city made $6.6 million in recyclables and another $8 million by not having the disposables in the trash. This money can solve our problems, and Philadelphia could be one again one of the best cities in the world.