How to recycle glass (and what to wrap & bin)
ReRooted organic oat drink is sold in returnable glass bottles
Glass is made from sand and a few other ingredients. It’s inert and can easily be recycled. But to make new glass takes a lot of energy, so it’s good to recycle glass if possible. And never litter it.
As well as broken glass issues, 80% of littered bottles (and nearly 5% of littered cans) contain remnants of tiny mammals (shrews, bank voles, wood mice).
Rinse/remove can lids (or pop ring-pulls over holes) then step on upper cans to pinch rims together, again to stop trapping wildlife.
To recycle glass bottles and jars, give them a rinse (to avoid tempting wildlife) then remove and recycle plastic caps. For wine bottles, give corks to off licences for recycling or send in bulk to Recorked.
You can recycle medicine bottles at pharmacies (never flush medicines or supplements down the loo). Non-empty scent and nail polish bottles need to go to hazardous waste.
Glass that can’t be recycled
Wrap broken glass in thick newspaper/card and bin.
- Drinking glasses, glass straws and Pyrex jugs/ovenware
- Mirrors, window panes and architectural glass
- Old lightbulbs (modern LED ones can be recycled in stores).
If an LED bulb smashes:
Evacuate the room and leave windows open for at least 15 minutes. Then turn off central heating (or air conditioning) to stop vapour from spreading. Do not use a vacuum cleaner, as this scatters mercury dust into the air.
Wear gloves to scoop shards with stiff cardboard, then use sticky tape to pick up fragments, wipe area with damp paper towel.
