Glass bottles produced in California had greater average recycled content in 2019, according to recently released data. For fiberglass insulation, the recycled content was roughly flat.
The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) on April 6 released data on in-state end users of recovered glass. Bottles and fiberglass insulation are two major markets for post-consumer glass.
Bottles (almost) half recycled
Last year, glass bottle manufacturers in California boosted their use of cullet, and their products had more overall recycled content.
In 2019, bottle producers used over 475,000 tons of cullet and had 47.9% recycled content.
That compares with 2018, when bottle producers used 432,000 tons of post-consumer cullet and averaged 43.5% recycled content. Those figures represented declines from the year before.
Recycled glass in fiberglass insulation
In 2019, fiberglass manufacturers in the state used 181,000 tons of cullet and averaged 50.8% recycled content in their products. Less fiberglass was produced overall, so the recycled content notched upward slightly.
California fiberglass manufacturers in 2018 used 205,000 tons of cullet and had 50.5% recycled content. As was the case for bottles, both numbers were down from 2017.
