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Environment
Simple Things You Can Do
1. Precycle
- Look for refillable Bottles. They're the most energy and material efficient; they can be sterilized and reused up to seven times before recycling.
- Refillables aren't easy to find any more. But if enough consumers speak up at local supermarkets, they'll reappear on shelves. Case in point: Washington's Rainier Brewery, citing its customers' environmental concerns, has recently returned to using refillables for all its single serving bottles.
- An easy way to manage refillables: Get one of the sturdy crates they come in, and store "empties" in it. When the crates are full, take them to the store and exchange the empties for full bottles.
- In some areas of the Midwest and Mountain states, glass is not accepted because there's no market for it. In these areas, consider buying aluminum cans, which are recycles virtually everywhere.
2. Store It
- It's safer to pack bottles in boxes or bins than in bags.
- Don't leave the bottles in six-pack carriers; that makes extra processing work for recyclers (they have to remove the bottles).
- If you're selling your glass at a buyback center or dropping it off, you'll probably have to separate it into brown, green and clear glass. The reason: To make recycling profitable, glass factories need to turn brown glass into brown bottles, etc. If colors are mixed, the end product is an unpredictable hue. Glass factories don't like it because their orders are for specific colors.
- If you have any blue or other colored glass containers, recycle them with the brown or green--but only in small amounts.
- If the glass is even slightly tinted, sort as colored, not as clear.
- Broken bottles can be recycled, but not everyone accepts them.
- Curbside programs generally accept all colors mixed together; sorting occurs later. Keep glass unbroken if possible--it's easier for the recycling crew to handle.
3. Recycle
- Remove lids and caps. You can recycle steel caps with steel cans. (Plastic cap liners are no problem.) For aluminum caps, check with the recycling center before including them with aluminum cans.
- It's okay to leave on neck ring, paper and plastic labels--they burn or blow off in the recycling process.
- Dump out food residue and lightly rinse bottles. Old food attracts animals, it's a mess for recyclers, and it stinks. Be sure to rinse out beer bottles. A drop of beer can turn into a slimy mold.
- Remove rocks and dirt from bottles found in parks, beaches, etc. Even a little stone can ruin a whole load of glass.
4. Absolutely Don't Include...
- Windows, drinking glasses, mirrors, Pyrex (baking dishes, coffee ports, etc.), or other similar glass. Any of these can ruin an entire batch of glass if they slip through at the factory. The reason: They don't melt at the same temperature as bottles.
- Ceramics (coffee mugs, mustard jars, plates, etc.). They don't melt down with the glass, so they contaminate it.
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