Just like aluminum, glass can also be recycled an infinite amount of times, although it is processed differently when recycled. When glass is recycled it must be separated by collar, the collar cannot be removed from the glass, so green and brown bottles can only be used to create new brown and green glass products. Although if any glass has been contaminated by accidental collar mixing or some kind of other contamination can still be used to insulate fiber glass or as an ingredient for concrete, so really glass can be recycled regardless. The main process that glass goes through is when it is turned into cullet, which is crush glass that has been melted down in a furnace. Any paper labels that may have been on the glass will have been burnt away and metal lids are previously removed, so that no harm can be done to the furnace during the melting process. Cullet melts at a lower temperature than new raw ingredients used to make new glass, like sand, so a lot of energy is saved in the process. Cullet serves as the main ingredient in most new glass containers, usually around seventy percent of the stuff. The melted cullet is then finally molded into the desired shape depending on the different companies requirements, with the product being back on shelves within thirty days of the original glass container being recycled.
