Frequently Asked Questions
Which glass can be recycled?
You can recycle glass bottles and glass jars.
How do I recycle my glass?
- Rinse your glass.
- Remove any caps or metal lids. These can be placed in your recycling bag.
- On your collection day, take out your clean glass in your brown lid bin or any other sturdy reusable container of your choice, such as an old bucket or a crate.
- Make sure you bring in your reusable container so you can use it for the next collection.
What other options are available to dispose of glass?
There are around 800 smart
iBiNs around Malta operated and managed by GreenPak Coop. A web app that points you to the nearest available
iBiN is also available.
There are also a number of Bring-In Sites operated by GreenMT where you can deposit your clean glass.
Here you can find a list of all the iBiNs and Bring-in-Sites available around Malta.
Another option is to make use of one of the six Civic Amenity Sites which are open from Monday to Sunday, including Public Holidays, between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. You can also take your glass to our Roadshow Truck that is in every locality once a month.
Why should glass be placed in a reusable container?
To ensure that your effort at rinsing and separating this glass is not undermined during collection by the mixing of materials such as plastic bags, cardboard boxes and other waste items as this severely deteriorates the quality of the recycled glass.
What happens to the glass once it arrives at WasteServ facilities?
WasteServ sells all the glass collected to registered waste brokers. This is then exported to be transformed into new products.
Only last July, WasteServ exported around 6,550 tonnes of mixed glass – the largest export of glass since 2013 which amounts to an impressive 34 million soft drink bottles. To read the original article, please click here.
Worried about COVID-19?
COVID-19 survives for 2 to 3 days on plastic and 5 days on glass. Hence, it is important that the glass bins or any other items left outside are washed with disinfectant which has sodium hypochlorite concentration of 5-6% to limit any possible contamination.
Always wear reusable or disposable gloves for routine cleaning and disinfection.
Why do we discourage the use of cardboard boxes?
We understand that placing your cardboard box may be your preferred option, particularly in the present time.
However, cardboard boxes may become brittle and even crumbly after getting wet. This may pose a risk to the waste collector when collecting your box to dispose of the glass in their trucks. Besides, wet cardboard cannot be recycled as water weakens the paper fibers making the cardboard less valuable.
Cardboard boxes are also easily blown by the wind once the glass is collected.
Nevertheless, we invite you to always follow the guidelines issued by your Local Councils who are responsible of waste collection in your locality. Some Local Councils have made separate arrangements to facilitate a smooth transition.