Breaking the Glass Ceiling: A New and Better Way to Recycle Glass Bottles

Return wine, liquor and other non-deposit beverage bottles to participating redemption centers to ensure they get turned into new bottles

Syracuse, N.Y. (June 28, 2021) — By weight, 50% of glass in Onondaga County blue bins is wine, liquor or other non-deposit beverage bottles. If all that glass got returned to participating redemption centers, it could be turned into new bottles, instead of what happens to it now… Watch this video to see how to recycle glass into new bottles!

Glass bottles placed in the recycle bin break into tiny pieces during sorting and get mixed with bits of metal, paper and plastic. This makes it difficult and expensive to recycle. Broken glass also contaminates other recyclables. It does NOT get turned into new bottles, instead, it gets reused in landfills to make roads and cover waste.

Glass is infinitely recyclable, if collected the right way. For example, glass beer bottles, which have a 5-cent deposit, are easily recycled into new glass beverage containers.

OCRRA is now partnering with ten bottle redemption centers to give non-deposit wine, liquor, iced tea and other non-alcoholic glass beverage bottles a new life! The following types of non-deposit glass beverage bottles are now being accepted at participating redemption centers:

• Wine bottles
• Liquor bottles
• All non-deposit glass beverage bottles (iced coffee, tea, juice, etc.)

New York State has not yet expanded the Bottle Bill, so residents will not get a nickel back for these items (remember, no deposit was paid on them at purchase), but they WILL get turned into new bottles again because this glass remains clean and can easily be sorted by color!

Properly sorted, clean glass can be recycled infinitely. Without recycled glass, new glass needs to be made from sand that is dug up from shorelines and beds of rivers and lakes. This is an energy-intensive process. Recycling glass conserves energy, reduces the need for mined sand and preserves natural landscapes for wildlife and recreation.

Glass Drop Off Details:

• Wine, liquor, non-alcoholic glass beverage bottles only
• No caps/corks; labels are okay
• No broken glass
• No food jars (they should still go in your blue bin)
• Before delivery, separate non-deposit glass from beverage containers with a five-cent deposit

* Not all redemption centers are participating at this time. Only the locations below are accepting non-deposit glass beverage bottles. You may continue to put wine, liquor and non-deposit glass beverage bottles in the blue bin if returning these bottles is a hardship; this program is voluntary, not mandatory. Fact: In Onondaga County, glass put in your blue bin or the trash goes to the same place for the same purpose: a landfill where it covers trash or is used in road construction.

Participating Redemption Centers