The diagram illustrates the process by which glass can be recycled. The process is circular and involves six main stages.
Firstly, used glass bottles need to be separated from general household rubbish and placed in recycling bins. These bins are collected by a refuse lorry, which takes them to a treatment plant.
At the treatment plant, the first step is to wash and sterilise the used glass in a special machine. Once this has been done, the clean and sterile bottles are sent to a second machine where they are crushed and melted. The resulting molten glass is then reshaped into new glass products in a moulding machine. These new bottles can be filled and delivered to supermarkets for sale. The process may then be repeated all over again.
Overall, we can see there is no limit to how many times glass can be recycled and reused as long as consumers are prepared to take the initial step of separating glass rubbish from other household waste.