Tips for Recycling Blue Glass

There are two important distinctions to consider when recycling blue glass:

1. It is less commonly used than other colors (e.g. clear, green) of glass, which reduces the demand for recycled content.
2. Blue glass is often used to make treated glass, such as ceramics and artwork. Treated glass has a different recycling process than container glass, meaning just because your local recycling program accepts blue glass containers doesn’t mean it will take all blue glass.

It is important to check with your local recycling program to identify what colors of glass are accepted. You should not attempt to recycle any colors or forms of glass that are not accepted, as this results in contamination.

If you cannot find a local recycler for your blue glass, there are many creative ways of reusing it.  Here are some examples:

• Cut the bottom off of blue wine bottles and thread a light fixture through them.  They make beautiful and creative hanging lights.
• Rinse out jars and bottles to use as drinking vessels or flower vases.
• Bottles can make insulating walls in new homes by being mortared together.
• There is a new way to make granite-like counters and floors by blending pieces of colored glass together.  This type of material is called “ttura.”