[RonF]

The concept of recycling glass isn't to save sand; it's to save the energy used in digging up, transporting, and processing that sand into glass. What the cost of that is vs. recycling glass is unknown to me, but to just reference "running out of sand" is misleading.

[lmr]

I am in the Waste Business. It's not that we are going to run out of sand or that it takes too much energy to make glass, the reason why glass recycling doesn't work is because it is CHEAPER to make it from raw materials than to recycle it. It is Market Economics. The same thing applies to landfills and recycling in general. In most places, it is CHEAPER to take it to a landfill than to recycle it. Mandatory Recycling programs interfere with the free market economics at play here. "Bottle Bills" - Those 5 or 10 cent deposit in some states and Mandatory Curbside recycling programs have interfered with the free market. In the end, the dollar wants to take the CHEAPEST path which in most cases isn't recycling.