Glass is one of the more overlooked waste streams in most household segregation conversations, sitting somewhere between "obviously recyclable" and "not sure what to actually do with it." It deserves its own explanation, because it behaves very differently from plastic both in terms of recycling value and, more urgently, safety.

Why glass isn't part of our standard buy-back payment structure

Unlike PET and HDPE plastic, glass doesn't currently form part of our per-kilogram buy-back payments to residents. This isn't because glass lacks recycling value — it's genuinely, infinitely recyclable without loss of quality — but because the local recycling market for glass in our area is considerably less developed than for plastic, with fewer nearby buyers and lower prices that don't currently support a viable buy-back payment model at our scale. We still collect and route glass toward recycling where possible; we simply can't yet pay for it the way we do plastic.

The safety dimension that makes glass different

Broken glass is one of the more genuine injury risks in general waste handling, for our collectors and for households themselves. Unlike most other household waste, glass that breaks in transit or storage creates sharp edges that can cause serious cuts, often hidden within a bag until someone's hand or foot makes contact with it. This is why we ask households specifically to wrap broken glass separately, ideally in newspaper or cardboard and clearly marked, before placing it in general waste, rather than leaving it loose where a collector handling the bag by hand has no warning.

What we do with glass we collect

Intact glass bottles and jars, sorted separately from general waste, are consolidated at our sorting yard and, where volume and current market conditions allow, sold on to glass recyclers or reuse buyers — some bottle types have a secondary market for reuse rather than melting down, particularly standard-sized beverage bottles. Broken glass that isn't viable for either recycling or reuse is disposed of as general waste, handled with the same careful wrapping we ask of households, to protect both our sorting staff and eventual landfill workers.

What households should do with glass right now

  • Keep glass separate from other recyclables rather than mixing it with plastic in the same bag or container.
  • Wrap any broken glass in newspaper or cardboard, and mark the package clearly, before placing it out for collection.
  • Rinse glass containers of food or liquid residue before setting them aside, the same as you would for plastic.
  • Consider reuse before disposal where practical — glass jars in particular are often useful for household storage rather than needing to be discarded at all.

Why we're not expanding glass buy-back yet, but might eventually

We're watching the local glass recycling market closely, since our experience with plastic suggests that a viable buy-back payment is one of the strongest levers we have for improving segregation and reducing what ends up in general waste. If glass recycling demand and pricing in our area develop to a point where a modest per-kilogram payment becomes sustainable, we'd look to add it to our buy-back structure the same way we've grown plastic buy-back from a single informal arrangement to four fixed points over time.

How glass fits into the bigger recycling picture

Glass is, in principle, one of the most environmentally favourable materials to recycle — it can be melted down and reformed indefinitely without degrading in quality, unlike some plastics that degrade slightly with each recycling cycle. The gap in our current approach isn't about glass's inherent recyclability; it's about the local market infrastructure needed to make collecting and processing it at community scale economically viable, which is exactly the kind of gap our planned materials recovery point is intended to help close over time.

What we'd need to see before adding glass to buy-back payments

Specifically, we'd want to see either a nearby glass recycler willing to offer a viable wholesale rate for sorted glass at the volumes we could realistically collect, or a local reuse market substantial enough to absorb collected bottles directly. Until one of those conditions is met, expanding glass collection without a payment mechanism risks asking residents for effort without a matching incentive, which our experience with plastic buy-back suggests would likely see far lower participation than a paid system achieves.

Frequently asked questions

Do you pay for glass the way you pay for plastic?

Not currently, since the local glass recycling market doesn't yet support a viable buy-back payment at our operating scale, though we still collect and route glass toward recycling or reuse where possible.

How should I dispose of broken glass safely?

Wrap it in newspaper or cardboard, mark the package clearly, and keep it separate from other waste, so anyone handling the bag isn't at risk of an unexpected cut.

Can glass jars be reused instead of recycled?

Yes, and we'd encourage it where practical — glass jars are commonly reused for household storage, which avoids the need for recycling or disposal altogether.

For more on how our recycling categories work overall, see our guide on waste segregation at source.