A new $55,000 glass sorting facility that will see glass recycled into items such as insulation was officially opened by the Minister of Environment in Mount Maunganui today.

The glass recycling facility at the Te Maunga Resource Recovery Park is expected to divert about 1300 tonnes of flat glass from landfill each year.

Glass Packaging forum general manager John Webber talks to Hon Amy Adams about the different types of glass that can be recycled. Photo and video by Tracy Hardy.

The $55,092 facility for Auckland based flat glass recyclers 5R Solutions is jointly funded by Tauranga City Council, the Glass Packaging Forum and EnviroWaste with $47,457 allocated to the Tauranga City Council from the Government's waste disposal levy.

The Glass Packaging Forum, an industry member-based, accredited product stewardship scheme for encouraging glass recycling in New Zealand contributed $7,635.

Dignitaries gathered at the recycling site today where Minister for the Environment Amy Adams officially opened the site.

The facility incorporates sorting bays where flat glass can be collected and stored prior to transport for recycling. Proper storage is important for maintaining the quality of the product and reducing possible contamination.

The new sorting bays will allow Metro Glass Tech in Tauranga to provide flat glass to 5R Solutions Ltd glass recycling facility in Auckland. It is possible to expand the service, allowing other flat glass suppliers in Tauranga to send their glass waste to 5R Solutions Ltd for recycling.

The 5R company, run by Ross Trotter and Chris Grant, processes more than 10,000 tonnes of glass throughout the country annually.

The flat glass is recycled into insulation products, or when not able to be recycled, is crushed for reuse in products such as drainage medium on sports fields.

The improved sorting bays will also help to make a wider regional glass collection system more viable, and reduce flat glass contamination of glass bottles and jars sent to O-I NZ in Auckland, which manufactures new glass bottles and jars from the recycled glass bottles and jars collected in Tauranga.