Are Glass Bottles Recyclable – Green Guide

Glass bottles are among the common packaging for different kinds of beverages like soda, milk, wine, beer, juice and others. Over time, you’ll find that you have accumulated many of these and are now getting to the point where you don’t know what to do with them.

So, are glass bottles recyclable? What’s the best way to dispose of them? Here are some tips on how you can properly send off those unused bottles.

Are Glass Bottles Recyclable 

The environment is getting warmer and warmer. Climate change is everywhere. It’s being blamed for everything from the melting of the polar ice caps to increasing sea levels, powerful storms and intensity of rain, fewer snowflakes, weaker polar vortexes and more frequent heat waves and droughts.

While you’re busy facing the reality of problems that are now a part of our lives, it’s also important to know how best to dispose of your trash, including glass bottles.

There is a lot that we can do to improve the planet. And one of those things that we can collectively do is recycle our trash rather than sending it to the landfills. After all, we don’t want all that trash to get buried in the landfill, where it will be turned into toxic pollution and end up affecting our environment and the creatures living therein. Glass bottles are 100% recyclable. As a matter of fact, you can recycle most of your glass bottles with the local curbside recycling programs.

Moreover, glass bottles are some of the quickest-to-recycle type of packaging. It only takes about 30 days before the bottles are recycled and sent back to shelves.

Also, glass is capable of being recycled infinitely without any loss of quality or purity. So, as you can see, glass bottles are incredibly useful and also recyclable. If you’ve been keeping them for some time, there’s a very high chance that these glasses can be recycled and reused. And the best part is that the material can be recycled over and over again, and still retain its quality and integrity.

There are recycle bins positioned near the trash can in your home. Or you can opt to bring the bottles to your nearest recycling facility. You may have access to a curbside recycling program, where you can separate them from the rest of the trash and chuck them in a recycle bin. When they’re mixed with other trash, they’re harder to recycle. So, it’s best if you manually separate them before chucking them with the rest of your trash.

Why recycle glass bottles

Glass is one of the most heavily recycled materials worldwide. In fact, a staggering 80 percent of all glass bottles are recycled. Also, a whole lot of them are re-used in the manufacturing process, which further helps conserve our natural resources.

After all, it takes a lot of energy and resources to produce glass bottles and using these bottles over again helps save precious natural resources that can be used instead to make other things.

Additionally, recycling these glass bottles help make way for the creation of new ones. The recycling industry generates enough energy to meet the energy needs of 2.5 million American homes. So, if you’re a light drinker, it’s best that you recycle those bottles and stop contributing to the problem.

How to prepare glass bottles for recycling

Recycling is not a complicated process. Here’s how you can prepare your glass bottles for recycling:

1. Ensure your glass bottles are not broken in any way. This means you have to be careful with how you handle and store them. Broken glass is not recycled and will instead be sent to a landfill.
2. You can leave the label or any other traces of information you may want to keep intact on the bottles. However, most recyclers will want you to remove and separate the metal caps. These are often recycled separately. Also remove wine corks.
3. If you have a lot of empties, consider dropping them off at your nearest recycling facility or collection center. Curbside recycling centers charge a small fee for the use of their services. However, you can usually hire a service for this purpose and pay just about what you’d pay for trash disposal.
4. If you’re an avid recycler, consider buying a heavy-duty trash bag to help you collect the bottles in one place. This makes the whole process of recycling easier and saves you time when it comes to separating them.

Final Thoughts

With your old glass bottles, you can not only save the planet from pollution but also help in producing new bottles and other items to meet our daily needs. There are several recycling centers in your locality.

So, you can look for those and have them transport your stuff to the right place. Also, you can keep track of how your bottles are being used and recycled by checking online websites that provide detailed information about recycling.

FAQs

Can you put glass in the recycling bin?

Yes, you can place your glass bottles in the recycling bin. However, there are a few conditions. The glass bottles must be empty and clean. If you have any metal caps on the bottles, you’ll have to remove those as well.

Are glass bottles biodegradable?

No, glass bottles are not biodegradable. However, glass does break down over time. It takes about 100 years for glass to decompose completely, which is why recycling is so important.

Are wine bottles recyclable?

Yes, wine bottles can be recycled. In fact, most recycling facilities will take them as long as they’re clean and empty.