Johns Creek residents can recycle glass by dropping it off at the designated container in the
Ocee Park parking lot (10900 Buice Road).
Glass food and beverage bottles and containers (all colors) will be accepted including:
- Soda bottles
- Beer bottles
- Juice containers
- Wine & liquor bottles
- Drinking glasses
Items not accepted include:
- CRT (TV) glass
- Light bulbs
- Porcelain
- Crystal
- Ceramics (plates, mugs, & dishes)
- Candle glass
- Vases
- Pyrex (or other heat resistant glass), windows, doors or windshields, paper carboard boxes
- Furniture glass
Glass with labels will be accepted. Please remove lids and rinse the glass before placing it in the recycling container.
Total Amount of Glass Recycled (since October 2022): 51,440 pounds
Glass Recycling Receptable Map
How Glass Recycling Works
The Glass Recycling Dumpster is serviced by Strategic Materials Inc., the largest glass recycler in the United States. They pick up the Dumpster and take it to their processing facility in College Park, GA.
The recycled glass follows the following processes:
- Crushers and screens are used to size the material to a course 5/8-inch size, which is the standard size used in the container industry.
- Optical sorters are used to separate the various glass colors from each other (clear glass from brown from green) and sorters are also used to separate ceramic and stone contamination from good glass. Additional machines in mathematical sequence work to polish the product to the desired specification.
- Magnets of all types and vacuum systems are used to further clean up the glass stream by removing ferrous and non-ferrous metals and light material (paper & organics) from heavier glass fragments.
Once the glass has has been processed (which can vary slightly depending on the ending products), it's ready to be sorted and sold as cullet, which can be repurposed as fiberglass, highway bead, fillers, specialty glass, plastics, and more.
Most standard recycling haulers do still recycle glass, but they no longer accept glass in curbside bins because when glass breaks with other recyclable materials, it’s considered a “contaminant." Glass shards cannot be separated by standard recycling sorting equipment, which results in all the material being put into landfill. If you attempted to recycle plastic bottles with liquid inside, and that liquid spilled onto cardboard, it is no longer able to be recycled easily or cost effectively. Over time, processing centers have lowered their threshold for contamination, so recycling haulers have become more stringent about what they accept. Since glass was a common contaminant, many haulers decided to no longer accept it curbside.
Glass is one of the most recyclable materials, as it can be melted down and reformed without losing its quality or chemical structure. Therefore, when companies have the proper equipment and can collect it separately, glass is a useful and sustainable material.