Used container glass is a valuable raw material for the glass industry. When a glass food or beverage container is crushed, it has virtually returned to its natural state, ready to be made into another glass bottle or jar. This recycling process can continue indefinitely - today's jam jar could be next month's ketchup bottle, honey jar, juice bottle, etc.

Support your local recycling programme by putting your used glass containers out to the curb in your blue box for recycling or taking them to your nearby recycling depot.

If your bottle or jar is part of a deposit programme, plan to return them when you are doing a series of errands, so that you minimize your other impacts on the environment.

Don't litter. If you see a bottle discarded, please return it to the store for deposit and keep the change or put it in your blue box.

Only container glass can be recycled ... only those jars and bottles used for foods, beverages, toiletries, cosmetics and household pharmaceutical products.

If containers such as ceramics, glass cookware, window glass, drinking glasses and other types of glass are put in with the glass containers, then the whole container glass recycling system is disrupted, with compete truckloads being rejected for recycling. Remember that contamination is not only an environmental problem, it costs everybody involved money.

Follow the guidelines of your local recycling programme regarding caps and labels. Some communities require them to be removed, others don't.

It helps to rinse your used glass containers before setting them out in the blue box for recycling. This is to aid the recycling operators as food or juice residue is not an issue for the glass furnace. The furnace is so hot that food residue is burnt up in seconds. However, food residue can attract wasps, bees, rats, the neighbour's cat or dog, raccoons or skunks.