Wait, how is the glass unrecyclable? Glass should be one of the most recyclable bits, along with metals.

Just because plastic is a scam doesn't necessarily mean everything else recycled is. Scrap metal is big business. Old rubber tires get shredded and vulcanized into new products.

Glass is totally recyclable, the problem is you can’t get clear glass out of anything that has color in it, which a lot of stuff does.

It’s also not really saving any energy or valuable resources, and glass is heavy and fragile.

Glass doesn't have to be clear for most disposable uses; it's mostly useful in things such as windows, where you probably want to keep them around. For bottles, it doesn't really matter much.

Glass is more on the reusable side, which used to work great for soda and milk bottles until the companies decided plastic was cheaper.

Recycled glass can be mixed with virgin stone chip to make asphaltic concrete.

(Which of course uses fossil fuels for the bitumen; possibly even more than the equivalent mass of Portland cement concrete.)

I'm not aware of any other significant uses for recycled glass.

Nearly all glassmaking involves adding all the glass bits you cut off or broke back into the kiln. Almost no glass is actually 100% virgin glass. So glass is absolutely recyclable.

The only caveat is colored glass can only really be used to make the same color glass (at least economically).

I should have said, post-consumer glass.

House coatings?

https://scoutmagazine.ca/2017/02/07/you-should-know-about-th...

It's not un-recyclable, it's hard to move around and doesn't save a lot of energy compared to new raw materials.

Correct, glass needs hardened containers and slower acceleration.

I mean the goal with glass isn't to recycle it anyways, it is to reuse it. And when glass does eventually get thrown away, it is completely inert. It is just sand but in large solid pieces instead of grains. Hell if we cleaned it first, we could literally throw the glass in large piles in designated areas of the coast and just let the waves smash it all back into sand with zero ill effects.

Only partially agree, but reminded me of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_Beach_(Fort_Bragg,_Calif...

I guess it is just a US thing. I read a lot of HN so naturally had the same very skeptical disposition, until we went to see one of those plants in town. Started recycling at home the same week.

Metals, Glass and paper are profitable to be recycled, plastic a bit less so, but still doable.

But in EU there are a lot of programs to cut taxes or subsidize recycling so maybe that’s actually working?

Its like seeing how sausage is made, or learning how your favorite politician is a crook. You still want to believe but know too much.