Gwinnett County remains committed to glass recycling, and we value our neighbors’ participation in this important endeavor. Your involvement not only reduces our impact on local landfills but also helps us breathe new life into those glass bottles and jars – which benefits both the environment and our local economy. Glass container recycling in the U.S. is a $5.5 billion industry employing roughly 18,000 people. Every ton of glass recycled is the equivalent of roughly eight jobs. It is a good thing that 3.2 million tons of glass are recycled each year. And it’s no wonder why – glass is a resource that can be recycled endlessly without losing quality or purity.* 

The EPD and Our Partners at Ripple Glass Helped Us Expand the Program

After ending our curbside glass recycling program in 2018 due to rapidly rising costs, our Gwinnett County neighbors voiced their concerns about finding new avenues for recycling their glass bottles and jars. We opened three local glass recycling drop-off sites, and our friends at the Snellville Recycling Center and the City of Lawrenceville joined the cause. But – given the fact that Gwinnett County is one of the largest counties in terms of land mass in Georgia’s Piedmont region – we soon learned that more than five collection sites would be necessary to serve all our neighbors. 

In conjunction with Gwinnett County Government, Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful applied for funding through the Environmental Protection Division’s Recycling & Waste Diversion Grant Program. Once we were awarded those funds, we had the privilege of joining forces with Ripple Glass to expand our program. Like us, Ripple Glass grew from a grass-roots effort to protect the environment. The Kansas City-born organization has since been acquired by Strategic Materials, Inc. – North America’s most comprehensive glass recycler. Within a matter of months of partnering with Ripple Glass, we rolled out TEN NEW LOCATIONS – all featuring Ripple Glass’ signature purple collection bins.

Glass recycling drop-off sites throughout Gwinnett County include:

• Bethesda Park 
• Bogan Park 
• Collins Hill Aquatic Center 
• Duncan Creek Park 
• Harbins Park 
• Lenora Park 
• Lucky Shoals Park 
• Mountain Park Aquatic Center 
• OneStop Norcross 
• Peachtree Ridge Park 
• Pinckneyville Park 
• Rabbit Hill Park 
• Snellville Recycling Center 
• Lawrenceville Public Works 
• E.E. Robinson Park

For drop-off location addresses, visit our Glass Recycling Page. On May 14, 2024, we hit the one-million-pound mark for recycled glass and have our sights set on the NEXT million!

Best Ways to Prep Your Glass Bottles and Jars for Recycling

It’s Ripple Glass’ desire to make glass recycling as simple as possible for Gwinnett County neighbors, so they’ve shared these quick and easy tips for prepping your glass jars and bottles for delivery to one of the local collection sites:

• Give your bottles and jars a quick rinse – the less organic matter left inside, the better.
• There’s no need to remove labels – that will be taken care of at the recycling facility. 
• Please don’t place your glass containers in plastic bags and drop them in the collection bins. Plastic bags contaminate the recycling stream, and separating them from the bottles takes time. If you must have a carrier for your glass jars and bottles, consider using a cardboard box or reusable container that you can empty your glass from into the bin. Don’t worry, broken glass is accepted.
• Please do not place ceramics or Pyrex in the glass recycling bin – both are considered contaminants.

“We have been thrilled with the support of the Gwinnett County community in this effort,” said Jamey Moran, Metro Program Manager with Ripple Glass. “At the end of the day, recycling your glass is the right thing to do. Using recycled glass saves natural resources and energy, supports the local economy, and diverts a valuable resource from our landfills. Every bottle and jar collected in a purple bin gets recycled and put back into the circular economy. When everyone works together to prioritize glass recycling, they become part of a larger initiative helping to make ripples locally, and beyond.”

What Happens to Your Glass Bottles and Jars After You Place Them in the Purple Bin

Once you drop off your glass bottles and jars at any one of the 15 Gwinnett County collection sites, the purple bins are picked up and delivered to the Strategic Materials plant in College Park for processing. After processing, your glass will be reimagined in one of two ways—as NEW glass bottles through a local bottle manufacturer or as fiberglass insulation for use in new residential or commercial construction. All are kept locally to further minimize our carbon footprint throughout the process. Georgia-based manufacturers that benefit from recycled glass include Anchor Glass, CertainTeed, Johns Manville, Owens Corning, and Verescence.

To learn more about glass recycling in Gwinnett, please visit our Glass Recycling page. If you have questions about other hard-to-recycle items that can’t be collected curbside, visit our Recycling page or check out our Events page to learn when we’ll be hosting our next community recycling event and what items will be collected.

*Source: Glass Recycling Coalition https://www.glassrecycles.org/education