30 Years of Recycling

British Glass

Thirty years ago, Stanley Race then president of the Glass Manufacturing Federation made history by dropping an empty jam jar into the UK's first ever glass recycling facility at a Tesco's car park, Barnsley, on August 24, 1977. This event kick-started a recycling revolution. Today, there are more than 50,000 bottle banks across the UK, and in recent years a huge expansion in local authority kerbside collection schemes. But now there are concerns that the remarkable growth in glass recycling might not be sustained in the future.