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Glass recycling bins

Your glass recycling bin is for glass bottles and jars only. It has a purple lid. 

We collect your glass recycling bin every 4 weeks, on the same day as your general rubbish, mixed recycling and food and garden organics collections. 

Some residents need to take their glass bottles and jars to a glass recycling drop-off point. This mostly affects residents in units and apartment blocks. We have been in touch if this affects you. 

To find out when your glass recyclig collection day will be, enter your address below. 

For a printed waste collection calendar, contact us on 9240 1111 or visit one of our Customer Service Centres.

How to use your glass recycling bin 

Follow the steps below to recycle your glass bottles and jars: 

  • Only put glass bottles and jars in your glass recycling bin.  
  • Sort glass bottles and jars separately in your home. 
  • Put glass bottles and jars in your glass recycling bin loose, not in plastic bags. 
  • Glass bottles and jars must be empty. 
  • Lids should be firmly attached. 
  • No need to remove labels from bottles and jars.

For more information, download our 4-bin waste service user guide (PDF 1.94MB)

What can and cannot go in my glass recycling bin? 

  • Only glass bottle and jars can be put in your glass recycling bin. This includes: 

    • Pasta sauce, jam, and condiment jars 
    • Oil and sauce bottles 
    • Beer, wine and spirit bottles 
    • Medicine bottles and jars 

    It is okay to put broken glass bottles and jars in your glass recycling bin. 

    Use our online A to Z guide to waste and recycling to find out how to recycle, reuse or safely dispose of a wide range of common household items that may not be listed here. 

  • Please do not put any of the following in your glass recycling bin. These should be wrapped and placed in your general rubbish bin instead. 

    • Drinking glasses 
    • Window glass 
    • Mirrors 
    • Vases 
    • Glass cooking dishes (e.g. Pyrex) 
    • Perfume bottles 
    • Crockery such as plates, dishes and mugs 

    Loose lids and plastic bags should go in the general rubbish bin. 

    Putting incorrect items in your recycling bin is called contamination. Contamination can be a safety hazard and makes it harder to turn your recycling into new things. Find out more about contamination on our Recycle Right webpage.

  • Different types of glass have different melting points, so we cannot recycle different types of glass together. 

    Certain bottles aren’t accepted in your glass bin. These include bottles for perfume, nail polish and essential oils. These bottles generally contain chemicals that causes imperfections in the recycling process. Put these bottles in your rubbish bin. 

  • Lids should be firmly attached. Loose lids go in your general rubbish bin. 

  • Your glass bottles and jars are a valuable resource. They are turned into new glass bottles and jars right here in Melbourne. 

    Your glass recycling goes to Visy Recycling’s glass beneficiation plant in Laverton. It is cleaned, sorted by colour and prepared for processing so it can be used to make new glass bottles and jars. 

    Broken glass makes other items like cardboard, paper and plastic hard to recycle. By putting your glass bottles and jars in a separate bin, more of it can be recycled into new things. 
     
    It also reduces contamination in your mixed recycling bin, making sure that paper, card and plastics can be recovered effectively, improving the quality and value of these materials to be turned into new products. 
     
    Glass does not degrade through the recycling process, so it can be recycled again and again. 

    Learn how Visy recycles our glass bottles and jars

Common questions about glass recycling

  • Put your bins out by 5:30am on your bin collection day. You can also put your bins out the night before.

    Put your bin on the kerb at the edge of your street. Make sure the bin is facing the street and that there are no objects within 30cm (such as a car, tree or another bin).

    Any waste left beside or on top of the bin will not be collected.

    If your street is a court or cul-de-sac, place your bins along the straight part of the kerb.

    Below are some diagrams that show this placement.

  • Broken glass makes other items like cardboard, paper and plastic hard to recycle. By putting your glass bottles and jars in a separate bin or drop-off point, more of it can be recycled into new things.

    It also reduces contamination in your mixed recycling bin, making sure that paper, card and plastics can be recovered effectively, improving the quality and value of these materials to be turned into new products.

    Glass does not degrade through the recycling process, so it can be recycled again and again.

  • The available sizes for glass recycling are 120 litre (standard) or 240 litres (2 x 120 litre bins).

    You can now request an additional 120 litre glass bin. There will be no changeover fee, but your waste charge will change. Smaller bins cost less and larger bins cost more.

  • Your glass bottles and jars are a valuable resource. They are turned into new glass bottles and jars right here in Melbourne. 

    Your glass recycling goes to Visy Recycling’s glass beneficiation plant in Laverton. It is cleaned, sorted by colour and prepared for processing so it can be used to make new glass bottles and jars. 

    Broken glass makes other items like cardboard, paper and plastic hard to recycle. By putting your glass bottles and jars in a separate bin, more of it can be recycled into new things. 
     
    It also reduces contamination in your mixed recycling bin, making sure that paper, card and plastics can be recovered effectively, improving the quality and value of these materials to be turned into new products. 
     
    Glass does not degrade through the recycling process, so it can be recycled again and again. 

    Learn how Visy recycles our glass bottles and jars