And how does recycling them save important resources?
2007-01-11 15:39:00 · 4 answers · asked by Sarah 4 in Environment
plastic is mainly made from a fossil fuel, petroleum... glass is made from silicon dioxide, also known as beach sand... sand is not a terribly valuable resource but the process of making glass bottles requires a certain amount of effort and energy, that energy coming from fossil fuels... the resources that are being saved is coal, oil, natural gas and the like...
2007-01-11 15:44:38 · answer #1 · answered by theba_boy 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I work glass and it takes much less energy to remelt glass from broken glass than it does to cook the mix of sand, limestone, and soda ash with other minor ingredients that makes up glass. The mix has to be cooked at about 2450F overnight in one ordinary process while melting cullet to a bubble free liquid can be done in 3-4 hours at under 2200F.
Plastic is less completely reusable, but also has energy issues in the making besides being a complex hydrocarbon.
2007-01-11 15:59:03 · answer #2 · answered by Mike1942f 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
glass is made from sand i guess recycleing would be something to do with the manufacturing process plastic is oil and chemical based so that says it all
2007-01-11 15:51:25 · answer #3 · answered by conan 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
oil and sand
2007-01-11 15:51:29 · answer #4 · answered by lb 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋