How to Recycle Brown Glass
Nickel, sulfur and carbon, when combined with melted glass, generate the brown color seen most often in beer bottles. The dark color guards food and beverages against damage caused by exposure to sunlight. Unfortunately, once the brown color is there, it's permanent. Brown bottles are still recyclable, but only when using the glass to make other brown bottles. Recycling brown cullet -reclaimed glass- saves money not only in creating glass new from scratch, but in also mining costs to obtain additional nickel, sulfur and carbon
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Things You'll Need
- • Recycling bin
- • Jewelry making equipment
- • Glass cutter
- • Bottle Cleaner
- • Imagination
- • Dreml tool
- • Silicon Carbide conical grinding tip
- • 80, 120 and 150 Grit drum sanding attachment
Instructions
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Reuse
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Reuse bottles at home. Even beer bottles can be used to store small objects like screws and nuts.
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2
Think outside the bottle: create "stained glass" windows, using bottles as construction materials---spaced, stacked and bound with concrete---or create unique lighting with a soft amber glow. The "stained glass" can also be used to fashion a unique table top.
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3
Cut or break brown glass into smaller beads for a fraction of the cost of beads specially produced for jewelry making. Tumble them to smooth the edges and turn the amber colored beads into jewelry. Alternatively, grind the edges with the Dreml tool using the silicone carbide bit, then sand them with the 80 grit sanding attachment followed by the 120 and the 150 grit attachments.
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Use a glass cutter to convert the brown bottles into drinking glasses. Polish the rim to remove the sharp edges and make the glasses suitable for serving beverages in. Unusually shaped brown glass pieces can be crafted into vases, bowls or even candle holders. Follow the edge grinding and polishing tips in step three.
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Landscaping benefits by the addition of color in the form of smoothed, tumbled brown glass pieces in an artistically arranged rock bed. Better yet, incorporate the brown glass pieces into a flooring design or a kitchen back-splash.
Recycle
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Clean out the brown bottles thoroughly and place them in a recycling container for curbside pickup. The brown bottles may need to be separated from the green and white glass recyclables depending on the rules of the curbside recycling services.
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Collect brown glass from businesses (for example, bars or restaurants) and leave them out for curbside recycling; or turn them in to a major recycling plant that takes bulk drop-offs.
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Most stores don't take glass bottle returns anymore. However, if a local store still maintains this old practice, make use of it. Clean and return bottles to stores that accept returns. If a deposit was paid when the bottle was purchased, the deposit will be returned when the bottle is brought back to the store.
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Tips & Warnings
• Remove metal or plastic lids and bottle caps before recycling.
• Recyclable brown glass containers may be used as beverage bottles, pharmacy containers and for storing household substances.
• Separate green, brown and clear glass as required for curbside pickup.
• For safety while using the Dreml tool for grinding and polishing edges, wear protective eyewear and a dust mask.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit background with brown glass image by Marek Kosmal from Fotolia.com
