US Glass Recovery Volumes to Decline Amid Recycling Difficulties

Cleveland, February 9, 2017 — US recovery of glass from the municipal solid waste (MSW) stream is forecast to fall 0.3% annually to 2021, according to Recovered Glass: United States, a report recently released by Freedonia Focus Reports. An expected decline in the volume of glass generated as waste will make less of this material available for recycling purposes.

The widespread adoption of single-stream collection of recyclables serves as an additional restraint on glass recovery. While this type of collection increases participation in curbside programs, it also reduces the quality of recovered glass due to breaking, intermixing of colors, and contamination with other materials. In fact, up to 40% of glass collected via single-stream programs is ultimately sent to landfills. For this reason, many municipalities are excluding glass from their curbside recycling programs. The city of Houston, Texas, for example, announced such a move in March 2016.

These and other key insights are featured in Recovered Glass: United States. This report forecasts the total recovery of post-consumer glass from the US MSW stream in short tons to 2021. For comparison, this report also forecasts to 2021 the total generation of post-consumer glass in the MSW stream. Total post-consumer glass recovery and generation are segmented by source product in terms of:

• beer and soft drink bottles
• wine and liquor bottles
• other containers
• durable goods (generation only).

To illustrate historical trends, total demand, total shipments, the various segments, and trade are provided in annual series from 2006 to 2016.

This report and other Freedonia Focus reports can be purchased at www.freedoniafocusreports.com and are also available on www.marketresearch.com and www.profound.com.

About Freedonia Focus Reports

Each month, The Freedonia Group – a division of MarketResearch.com – publishes over 20 new or updated Freedonia Focus Reports, providing fresh, unbiased analysis on a wide variety of markets and industries. Published in 20-30 pages, Focus Report coverage ranges from raw materials to finished manufactured goods and related services such as freight and construction. Analysis is intended to guide the busy reader through pertinent topics in rapid succession, including:

• total historical market size and industry output
• segmentation by products and markets
• identification of market drivers, constraints, and key indicators
• segment-by-segment outlook in five-year forecasts
• a survey of the supply base
• suggested resources for further study.

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