Vlakglas Recycling Nederland (VRN) is a non-profit foundation that has been funded and founded in 2001 by the Dutch double glazing industry and trading companies. Vlakglas Recycling Nederland has set up a national system for the structural collection and recycling of flat glass waste in the Netherlands.
Our system comprises a network of more than 400 collection points where all sheet glass waste (with the exception of car windscreens, special types of heat resistant glass and ceramic glass) can be dumped. This glass waste is then collected, recycled and re-used in the glass industry. The Dutch government has given its support by permitting the levy of a recycling fee on insulating glass. The collection and recycling costs are covered by this recycling fee. Our system for structural collection and recycling of flat glass waste is unique in Europe and at this moment it only exists in the Netherlands. The cullet that we collect are recycled and will be re-used in the flat glass, packaging and glass wool industry.
The idea behind the separate collection and recycling of sheet glass is the ‘cradle-to-cradle’ philosophy: the principle that after use, materials should be fully recyclable for use in other products. Our aim, and having the C2C philosophy in mind, is to have as much of the flat glass recycled into the flat glass industry. The VRN system supports the Circular Economy.
VRN will deliver during the project period ( from 2013 until 2018) a small quantity of waste sheet glass cullet that will be used during several tests. For this VRN has selected around 53 of their collection points where they collect waste sheet glass. This means that some of the sheet glass cullet collected at these collection points may be used during the tests of the Flat to Flat project.
Some of these collection points are :
