Glass Reports

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Northeast Flow of Glass Report

The eleven member states—Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont—along with advisory member organizations, are actively engaged in supporting and promoting glass recycling throughout the region. To better understand regional glass flows, NERC’s Glass Committee developed the Northeast Flow of Glass Report, which examines the tonnage of consumer glass container sales, as well as the quantity of containers recycled and processed into new products by manufacturers.

Download the NE Flow of Glass Report

KEY FINDINGS



  • Vermont (VT) and Connecticut (CT) have the highest proportion of glass containers collected for recycling relative to total glass container waste generated with VT at 79.88% and CT at 77%. Both states have established deposit return systems.

  • The greatest total tonnage of glass containers collected for recycling from residential and commercial sources occured in New York (NY) at 281,065 tons, a figure that aligns with population size. New Jersey (NJ) follows at 197,001 tons.

  • Connecticut leads in per capita glass container recycling at 65.81 lbs, followed by Vermont (VT) at 46.25 lbs, with New Jersey (NJ) and Maryland (MD) close behind.

  • The highest percentage of glass containers in municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal (including both residential and industrial, commercial, and institutional (ICI) sources) is found in New York (NY) at 4.38%, followed by New Hampshire (NH) at 2.71%. The average across all states is 2.12%.

  • Collection program analysis shows:
  • All Northeast states provide at least single-stream curbside and/or drop-off recycling programs.
  • Several states offer some source-separated drop-off options for glass bottles and jars.
  • Five states offer dual-stream curbside programs in select cities/regions.
  • Pennsylvania (PA) is the only state offering source-separated glass collection at the curb in select cities/regions.
  • Five states have bottle bill laws and operate deposit return systems (DRS).

  • Reporting methodologies vary significantly across states, which impacts data comparability.

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Reports Developed by the NERC Glass Committee


Recycled Glass Used as Alternative Daily Cover in the Northeast US & Quebec Report

NERC’s Glass Committee compiled this report to get a better understanding of post-consumer glass containers used as ADC. It contains information from the 11 Northeast US states and Quebec.


Glass Minimum Post-Consumer Recycled Content Model Legislation

This Model Legislation is one tool for building post-consumer glass markets. It is intended to be used with other legislative and non-legislative tools as part of a comprehensive strategy.


Glass Bottle & Fiberglass Manufacturers' Use of Cullet

In August 2019, NERC’s Glass Committee completed a survey of glass bottle and fiberglass manufacturers serving the Northeast region. Of those contacted, five facilities responded to the survey. Following is a compilation of their responses.


Glass Recovery Hierarchy

Glass bottles and containers are a valuable and versatile material resource. This hierarchy prioritizes common uses for glass including reuse, recycling and substitution for raw materials.


Northeast States' Departments of Transportation Use of Post-Consumer Recycled Glass Fact Sheet

This document complies Northeast state's Department of Transportation's use of post-consumer recycled glass.


Northeast MRF Glass Survey

This report contains a compilation of information about MRF glass in the region.  The goal of the survey was to better understand the flow of glass in the Northeast.