Participating in the launch is the Packaging Stewardship Forum (PSF) of the Australian Food & Grocery Council which brings together Australia's major beverage companies and their packaging suppliers to establish practical solutions for the increased amount of glass packaging which Australians put out for recycling.

General Manager of the PSF Jenny Pickles said the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) is to be congratulated for convening the launch, which will promote the use of recycled crushed glass (RCG) and other recycled materials in civil construction projects.

"While we recycle more glass containers today than ever before, our geography makes it difficult and costly to return recovered glass for traditional reuse in making new glass containers. Through kerbside systems across Australia we collect more than 76% of glass beverage containers annually, but around 30 percent of the glass we collect cannot be recycled due to breakage and/or contamination. That means
around 130,000 tonnes, equal to 735 million stubbies, is either stockpiled or going to waste in our landfills annually," said Ms Pickles.

"Today's launch is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate projects and initiatives which forward thinking councils, governments and industry are implementing to divert materials from landfill into productive reuse. Since 2009 the PSF has partnered with councils, road contractors, recycling service providers and government departments to provide local, and often regional, solutions for glass collected through kerbside systems. These include funding glass reprocessing plants to crush glass into RCG, the development of specifications for use of RCG in asphalt and demonstration projects using RCG around the country."

Ms Pickles added: "We applaud the MAV for organising today's event and urge all Victorian councils to sign up to a state wide charter committing to using recycled materials in all new construction projects as a tangible way to achieve zero waste."

National Specifications for use of RCG in civil engineering and a Cost Benefit Analysis by the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River are available from the PSF to local and state governments and road authorities.