There are four key sets of information that are provided in .pdf format for easy downloading and use. While most of this information has already been published in past issues of Glass Works, it has been assembled here under the heading of Statistics in response to requests from visitors coming to our site.

1. Recycled Content shows the historical record of Consumers Glass' use of post-consumer, post-use recycled glass in the production of its new glass containers.

Data, which has been prepared by Consumers Glass, provides the results of the company's Product Stewardship process that has been part of its business plan for over ten years.

The Product Stewardship process that Consumers Glass introduced in 1990 is based on the systems management that Edwards Deming's quality philosophy was built on. Measurement, as a tool for affecting change, plays a fundamental role, but it is not a "numbers game". Modern life teems with numbers; sometimes the fact that numbers are only tools is forgotten.

2. The Waste Diversion Organization (WDO Report to the Minister, Ontario September 2000) -- The WDO is an Ontario partnership between industry and multiple levels of government to develop a funding formula for the Blue Box and other waste diversion initiatives within the province. Statistics include waste generation and diversion by material type for 1999.

3. The National Packaging Protocol (NaPP, 1996) -- NaPP was a voluntary agreement supported by members of a multi-stakeholder task force to increase packaging waste diversion in Canada. Its base year was 1988; milestone years were 1992, 1996 and 2000. The year 2000 goal of 50 percent was achieved four years ahead of schedule. A 51 percent absolute reduction, a 56 percent reduction on a per capita basis, was achieved by 1996.

For other details on the programme go to Product Stewardship: Noteworthy Notations on the National Packaging Protocol (NaPP)

Also check out our Spring 1998 issue of Glass Works.

4. Measure for Measure contains a discussion of the Deming Route and the importance of measurement systems as a management tool for continual improvement.

Why are numbers important to people? People developed a fascination with numbers once they realized that their future was more than a whim of the gods. No longer a pawn in a game of chess played between the Nordic gods Odin and Loki, humans had the ability to self-manage and master risk.

How do statistics enter into the mastery of risk? The science of statistics deals with the collection, classification, analysis and interpretation of numerical facts. The word "statistics" is derived from the Latin word for "state". Originally it indicated the importance of governmental data gathering, principally related to census taking and tax collecting. John Graunt (1620 - 1674), a prosperous London tradesman, is considered to be one of the pioneers of statistics. He invented life tables, recordings of the numbers of people against causes of death, stirred by the impact of the black plaque and the welfare of his city. Life was a risky business in those days.

Belgian mathematician Adolphe Quetelet (1796-1874) enlarged statistics to mean data about humankind, and applied them to reveal the forces already at work in society, creating "the possibility of improving people by modifying their institutions, their habits, their education, and all that influences their behaviour."

Nowadays people often use the term statistics to be synonymous with data; although the latter is not limited to quantitative measures. The information that www.glassworks.org has prepared for or is sharing with visitors to our site includes both. Statistics on recycling reflect the state, represented by many stakeholders, and is shared among all to improve the governance of the system. As each stakeholder has a role and responsibility, being informed on the system's progress is critical for affecting change.