Welcome to the waste directory - Glass (domestic)
What can be recycled?
Glass containers such as bottles and jars should be cleaned and any tops or corks removed before recycling.
Glass makes up a large component of household and industrial waste due to its weight and density. Glass recycling uses less energy than manufacturing glass from sand, soda and lime.
Glass aggregate, a mix of colors crushed to a small size, is substituted for many construction and utility projects in place of pea gravel or crushed rock. Glass aggregate is not sharp to handle. Use of glass aggregate helps close the loop in glass recycling as we do not have the space to segregate glass by colour so that it can be smelted into new glass.
It isn't possible to recycle: window panes, incandescent light bulbs (see guidance) or glass ovenware. Dispose of these carefully as general waste.
What is included?
Yes
- Glass bottles
- Glass jars
- All colours of glass can be placed in the College's recycling stream
No
- Broken glass
- Laboratory glass
- Window glass
- Cookware glass eg Pyrex
- Light bulbs
Waste hierarchy
What happens to this waste stream?
0% reused
100% recycled
0% recovered
0% incinerated
0% landfilled
Glass (domestic) waste stream
Where do I put domestic glass?
- Glass is placed in the red-topped bin, if available. Otherwise it can be placed in the green-topped dry mixed recycling bin.
Who empties the bin?
- The cleaning team will empty the bins on a regular basis.
- Sacks are colour coded and will generally be transported to a compounded area via a trolley.
- Sacks are tipped into a the appropriate Eurocart (usually located in a locked compound).
What happens then?
- Glass in the red route is taken directly to an aggregates company to be turned into glasphalt (used in road surfacing).
- Glass in the green route is sent to a Materials Recovery Facility to be segregated from the other materials, it can then be recycled, again as aggregate, but this route will require additional energy for segregation form other materials and additional transportation.
How green is this waste stream?
- Everything that you recycle is put to good use. By recycling we reduce our need for raw materials, reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and reduce our carbon footprint. You are helping to protect and improve the environment.
- Recycling conserves raw materials, reduces energy consumption, and reduces the volume of waste sent to landfill.
- Every metric ton (1,000 kg) of waste glass recycled into new items saves 315 kilograms (694 lb) of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere during the creation of new glass.