This diagram illustrates the recycling process of glass bottles. The whole process is a cycle which can be divided into three main stages.

In the first stage, used bottles are collected at a recycling point ready to be transported by a truck. The second stage starts in a cleaning plant, where these recycled bottles are sorted by color into green, brown and clear ones and washed by high-pressurised water. When the cleaning is done, the bottles are conveyed to a glass factory where they are cut into glass pieces which are then poured into a furnace. After being heated in the furnace, the broken glasses are melted into liquid, which flows into a glass mold. Here glass liquid from other sources is added and the molding process takes place. In the final stage, new, empty bottles are filled with liquid, then packed and despatched to the supermarket ready to be picked by consumers. At this point, a cycle has been completed and a new cycle will begin.