How to Dispose of Broken Glass in Australia

Dropped a wine glass? Put a cricket ball through a window?

We’ve all been there: you’ve broken some glass and you’re not sure how to dispose of the shards safely.

Most of us would have broken a glass object in our house at one time or another, but many of us are unsure of how to dispose of broken glass properly.

Today, we wanted to clear up the uncertainty and provide some clarity on how to dispose of broken glass in Australia. We will delve deep into best practices for recycling glass, why you can’t recycle every type, and detail your different glass recycling options.

What to Do with Broken Glass

When figuring out how to dispose of broken glass, it is important that you are doing so in a safe manner. Glass can break into various shards and has the potential to cut and cause injury. Additionally, when glass into very small pieces it can be hard to spot.

Here are some tips for the best way to dispose of glass when it first breaks.

• Make sure you are wearing enclosed shoes. Stepping on broken glass is easy to do and incredibly painful. When cleaning up broken glass make sure to wear appropriate footwear
•  Collect all the broken glass into a pile. Use a broom or brush and dustpan to collect the various pieces of glass.
• Vacuum Remaining smaller Pieces. To ensure your area is free from any pieces of glass, even the pieces you can’t see, use a vacuum to clean up the remaining pieces.

Option 1: Throwing Away in The Garbage Bin

Now that you have your pile of glass, the first option is disposing of it in your general waste bin as it cannot be recycled.

Broken pieces of glass often pick up other contaminated material and do not melt at the same temperatures as recyclable glass material. If incorrectly recycled with normal glass, broken glass has the potential to contaminate otherwise recyclable batches of glass.

How to dispose of broken glass in your garbage bins:

1. Place all of the larger pieces together in a pile: this could be wrapped up in newspaper, cloth or another material that can hold the glass and will not be cut through easily
2. Put the remaining smaller pieces in the pile
3. Make sure all of the glass is contained: You can use whatever whatever you have decided to wrap it in. This may require a few layers of the material you are using to wrap the glass in
4. Seal your packaging: Use sticky tape to ensure it all stays together
5. Make sure the package is small enough to fit in your garbage bin
6. Mark the package with ‘Broken glass’: This step is to ensure those handling your rubbish are aware of what is in there and do not injure themselves

Please note: If your wrapping is not secure enough to safely contain the glass, consider a small cardboard box to ensure no glass falls out.

Knowing how to dispose of broken glass also means knowing how to do it in a safe manner. The purpose of wrapping the glass is to ensure no one gets injured whilst disposing of your rubbish; including the council garbage professionals who come and collect your bins.