What Glass Can You Recycle in Ireland?

Glass We Accept — In Detail

Bottles

All glass drink bottles are recyclable — wine bottles, beer bottles, spirit bottles, soft drink bottles, vinegar bottles and olive oil bottles. It doesn't matter what colour they are (clear, green, brown, blue). You don't need to remove labels, but give them a quick rinse to remove any residue.

Jars

Glass food jars of all sizes are recyclable — jam jars, pasta sauce jars, pickle jars, baby food jars, honey jars and spice jars. Metal lids can be left on. Give them a rinse first, but they don't need to be spotless.

Jar Lids and Bottle Caps

Metal lids and caps can be left on glass jars and bottles for GlassBag collection. If you remove them, put metal lids in your household recycling bin where accepted locally. Plastic lids should usually go in general waste because they are not part of the glass recycling stream.

Candle Jars

Glass candle jars (like those from Yankee Candle or similar brands) are accepted once the wax has been removed. The easiest way is to pour boiling water in, let the wax float up, then scoop it out once it cools. If there's a metal wick holder at the bottom, that's fine to leave in.

Broken Glass

GlassBag accepts broken glass bottles and jars. Place the pieces carefully into your bag — the bag is designed to handle sharp edges. This is one of the advantages over bottle banks, where broken glass can be difficult and dangerous to transport.

Glass We Don't Accept — Why Not?

Household Recycling Bins

Glass bottles and jars should not go in your household green or mixed recycling bin in Ireland. Broken glass can contaminate paper, plastic and metal recycling. Keep glass separate and use a bottle bank, recycling centre or GlassBag collection.

Pyrex, Ovenware and Cookware

Pyrex and tempered glass (oven dishes, glass cookware lids, glass chopping boards) are made with different chemical compositions and melt at different temperatures. Mixing them with bottle glass contaminates the recycling batch. These should go in your general waste bin.

Window Glass and Mirrors

Flat glass (windows, picture frame glass) and mirrors contain coatings and laminates that can't be recycled with bottle glass. Some civic amenity centres accept flat glass separately — check with your local recycling centre.

Drinking Glasses and Tumblers

Drinking glasses, wine glasses and tumblers are made from a different type of glass (often soda-lime or lead crystal) and cannot be recycled with bottle glass. If they're in good condition, consider donating them to a charity shop.

Light Bulbs

Light bulbs contain metals and gases that contaminate glass recycling. Energy-saving bulbs (CFLs) contain small amounts of mercury. Take spent bulbs to a recycling centre or WEEE collection point — don't put them in a bottle bank or GlassBag.

Ceramics and Pottery

Mugs, plates, vases and other ceramic items are not glass and cannot be recycled in the glass stream. Even small amounts of ceramic can ruin an entire batch of recycled glass. These go in general waste.