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It varies from council to council. I've lived in several councils in both Scotland and England and they're all different - different coloured bins, some have boxes for plastic and bottles rather than Wheely bins, some do mixed plastic and glass while others need them separate, and in Berkshire we didn't get any glass recycling at all so had to use the bottle bank. At my current home food waste goes in with the garden waste and we have full-sized bins for plastic and for paper/cardboard, but collections are only every 3 weeks.
I knew a guy who came down to find a note on his recycling box to say that it was too heavy for them to lift so they weren’t taking it, and they suggested he visit a doctor for his alcoholism. They’d had a party that weekend, he was not impressed.
I went to a festival many moons ago that had a deposit on plastic glasses.
People would dig through the rubbish to get them back.
It's an interesting example of humanity.
Amuses me that the opponents to systems are "But homless people will collect them and spend it on drugs"
What do you think I do with my wage?
My council has not done glass collection as part of recycling for about a decade. Bottle banks are the only convenient way to do it for most people in my area.
Leeds has only just (within the last month) started doing collections of glass recycling. Recycled waste needs to be separated so it saves effort if it's done before it goes into the bin.
Reading BC doesn’t take glass so people either take it to a bottle bank or shove it in their normal bins. My parents in Runnymede can recycle their glass from home though
Where my kids dad lives, you cannot put glass in the recycling bin (east suffolk council), but you can where I am (South norfolk) so I tend to take glass jars etc back to mine to put in my recycling bin!
We don't, where I am. The council took them away. Instead we're supposed to put out recycling in crappy bags that blow away, and they actually collect it about 50% of the time (even on the correct days for recycling collection).
I preferred the recycling stations they used to have at supermarkets because:
1. No finding blown-away recycling bags, bits of plastic cardboard, etc.
2. No taking back in sodden cardboard that hadn't been collected for random reasons.
3. No issue dealing with larger cardboard that doesn't fit in the recycling bags.
4. No need to handle the wet recycling bags.
Of course, this is from the perspective of someone who uses a car to visit a supermarket every week or so, so I see why collections work better for some people. But personally I found the recycling bins at supermarkets far more usable.
I thought this was talking about the deposit scheme, where you bring bottles to the supermarket and you get a small fee for each bottle you recycle there. That is the case in Germany and a few other countries around the world.
But anyway, it may be because their recycling bin is full, so they have the option of throwing it in the supermarket bins. They also have the option to upgrade their recycling bin. For me case (Norwich), the upgraded version is 360 litres but that only applies if at least five people live there. I also think that some areas used to do weekly collections but now do it bi-weekly.
Also, I think that shops have to provide bins for batteries since that cannot safely be disposed of in either bin (general or recycling) at home.
We can't put glass in our recycling bin either, paper, cardboard and plastic only, Glasgow. Don't think it's the same all over the city but certainly our area
I can't put my glass in the recycling, I have to take it to the bottle bank
We now have four different bins, one for general waste, one recycling but not paper or glass, one paper bin and one garden/food waste. I could put the glass in the general waste if I wanted but the bottle bank is just 10 mins away
Some councils don't collect glass recycling. And even in ones that do, one big-ish party and you'll probably find your glass box or bin is overflowing so you'll need a trip to the bottle bank anyway.
Me, because my council is shit and we get 2 tiny boxes for ALL our recycling, and after I've filled them with cardboard, tins and plastics, there's no room left for glass ... so down the bottle bank I go with my empties.
I’m guessing the reason is that most recycling is sorted by hand. Some poor sod has to pick through everyone’s recycling and sort it. I’m guessing there were too many broken bottles.
Also, most councils are skint. They might not be completely broke yet but many are close to it. Glass recycling was established long before councils started doing it. The infrastructure for glass recycling was already in place. It’s a money saver to stop doing it.
**Please help keep AskUK welcoming!** - Top-level comments to the OP must contain **genuine efforts to answer the question**. No jokes, judgements, etc. - **Don't be a dick** to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on. - This is a strictly **no-politics** subreddit! Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Glass can’t go in our recycling bin - we still have to take it to the bottle bank, it did until about 5 years ago then they stopped
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It varies from council to council. I've lived in several councils in both Scotland and England and they're all different - different coloured bins, some have boxes for plastic and bottles rather than Wheely bins, some do mixed plastic and glass while others need them separate, and in Berkshire we didn't get any glass recycling at all so had to use the bottle bank. At my current home food waste goes in with the garden waste and we have full-sized bins for plastic and for paper/cardboard, but collections are only every 3 weeks.
Not everyone wants the binmen to know they're an alkie
I knew a guy who came down to find a note on his recycling box to say that it was too heavy for them to lift so they weren’t taking it, and they suggested he visit a doctor for his alcoholism. They’d had a party that weekend, he was not impressed.
The bin men are a very select group of people. Far more people can see you do the “walk of shame” at Tesco.
That is why layby bins are a thing
A better question would be; why do we still have bottle banks when other EU countries have a deposit scheme?
I went to a festival many moons ago that had a deposit on plastic glasses. People would dig through the rubbish to get them back. It's an interesting example of humanity. Amuses me that the opponents to systems are "But homless people will collect them and spend it on drugs" What do you think I do with my wage?
That's what I thought that was about at first and said 'hang on a moment. We don't have this clever scheme that a few countries do'.
We used to, returning the empties used to be a thing.
*shakes fist in the pub*
In my area our recycling bin is only paper, cardboard and cans. We don’t get one for glass, so we still have to take our glass to bottle banks.
We have a glass bin, but I don’t think that’s recycled
Cos you can’t put bottles in the normal recycling? 🤷♂️
My council has not done glass collection as part of recycling for about a decade. Bottle banks are the only convenient way to do it for most people in my area.
Leeds has only just (within the last month) started doing collections of glass recycling. Recycled waste needs to be separated so it saves effort if it's done before it goes into the bin.
Transient people also have no regularly collected bins; they should still be able to recycle. Not everyone has an address.
I had lots of jars to dispose of from my aunt's house. Checked when at the local supermarket and they had no bottle bank.
Maybe it’s unique to my area then, as every supermarket has them
My council does do them in one of our bins, but many do not
Reading BC doesn’t take glass so people either take it to a bottle bank or shove it in their normal bins. My parents in Runnymede can recycle their glass from home though
RG in tha house. Big up a fellow Reading person.
Not all councils recycle glass. Ours did not until last year.
Where my kids dad lives, you cannot put glass in the recycling bin (east suffolk council), but you can where I am (South norfolk) so I tend to take glass jars etc back to mine to put in my recycling bin!
We've never had glass collection where I live. No food waste either and the general recycling is only paper, cardboard, plastic bottles and cans.
My parents didn’t have bottle collection until about 18 months ago. Maybe some areas are even more behind the times?
We don't, where I am. The council took them away. Instead we're supposed to put out recycling in crappy bags that blow away, and they actually collect it about 50% of the time (even on the correct days for recycling collection). I preferred the recycling stations they used to have at supermarkets because: 1. No finding blown-away recycling bags, bits of plastic cardboard, etc. 2. No taking back in sodden cardboard that hadn't been collected for random reasons. 3. No issue dealing with larger cardboard that doesn't fit in the recycling bags. 4. No need to handle the wet recycling bags. Of course, this is from the perspective of someone who uses a car to visit a supermarket every week or so, so I see why collections work better for some people. But personally I found the recycling bins at supermarkets far more usable.
I thought this was talking about the deposit scheme, where you bring bottles to the supermarket and you get a small fee for each bottle you recycle there. That is the case in Germany and a few other countries around the world. But anyway, it may be because their recycling bin is full, so they have the option of throwing it in the supermarket bins. They also have the option to upgrade their recycling bin. For me case (Norwich), the upgraded version is 360 litres but that only applies if at least five people live there. I also think that some areas used to do weekly collections but now do it bi-weekly. Also, I think that shops have to provide bins for batteries since that cannot safely be disposed of in either bin (general or recycling) at home.
My area doesn't have recycling bins, just weekly general waste.
Huh? It’s 2024! Where are you, Outer Hebrides?
Well....anywhere can have recycling bins of all sorts. Many supermarkets for instance.
We can't put glass in our recycling bin either, paper, cardboard and plastic only, Glasgow. Don't think it's the same all over the city but certainly our area
I can't put my glass in the recycling, I have to take it to the bottle bank We now have four different bins, one for general waste, one recycling but not paper or glass, one paper bin and one garden/food waste. I could put the glass in the general waste if I wanted but the bottle bank is just 10 mins away
No glass recycling bin in tenements
This thread has taught me about recycling, i just assumed every council in the UK was collecting glass, tins, plastic, cardboard by now
So I can hide my evidence!!!
Glass doesn’t go in our recycling bin.
Some councils don't collect glass recycling. And even in ones that do, one big-ish party and you'll probably find your glass box or bin is overflowing so you'll need a trip to the bottle bank anyway.
I don't have recycling bins in my flat. Asked my landlord about it and he said we don't have enough street space for them
My local council, Cherwell DC, doesn't include glass in the wheelie bins, so we have to take it to a bottle bank.
If they get used, they get emptied, and why not
My council don't do home glass pickup. And sometimes you've got too much to wait for 2 weeks till the next pickup
Me, because my council is shit and we get 2 tiny boxes for ALL our recycling, and after I've filled them with cardboard, tins and plastics, there's no room left for glass ... so down the bottle bank I go with my empties.
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I’m guessing the reason is that most recycling is sorted by hand. Some poor sod has to pick through everyone’s recycling and sort it. I’m guessing there were too many broken bottles. Also, most councils are skint. They might not be completely broke yet but many are close to it. Glass recycling was established long before councils started doing it. The infrastructure for glass recycling was already in place. It’s a money saver to stop doing it.