Household glass collection

You can recycle all of your glass bottles and jars in your black glass collection box, or your communal glass bin if you live in flats or communal buildings. Both of these are emptied every four weeks.

What we collect

• all glass bottles and jars of all colours and sizes
• coffee jars
• jam jars
• wine, spirit and beer bottles
• sauce jars

What we do not collect

• drinking glasses
• window pane glass
• glass kitchenware
• crockery
• broken glass
• light bulbs

If the box contains incorrect items it won't be collected. The collection crew will leave a card explaining what needs to be removed. 

Any glass that we cannot collect can be taken to the tip. 

Do not take any glass that we cannot collect to a community recycling bank as it will not be accepted.

Guidance for collection day

• put your box out in plain sight by 7am
• rinse out any glass and place it loose in your glass collection box
• don't put carrier bags, boxes or other items in your box as we will not be able to empty it.
• metal tops can be screwed back on to empty glass bottles and jars and put in the black box. No loose lids, corks or plastic lids/tops.

When we collect

Your household glass is collected every four weeks. Your household will have a week colour and collection day, for example purple Thursday.

Your collection day will stay the same. For example, if you were a yellow Tuesday collection last year, you will be a yellow Tuesday collection this year.

You can check your glass collection day using our online postcode lookup below.

Find your collection day

To help you remember your collection day, you can join the free Remind Me text message service. You will receive a text message reminder the day before your glass collection is due, or to let you know if there have been any changes to your collection.

Join the Remind Me text message service

Privacy Notice Remind Me text message service (PDF) [39KB]

If you've signed up to the Remind Me text message service, you may receive your text reminder a couple of hours earlier than usual during the winter months. Following resident feedback, we've made this decision to help residents to avoid putting their glass out for collection during the darker hours of the day.

Bank holidays

Glass collections will still take place over the Easter and summer bank holidays.

Some changes are made to glass collection days at Christmas and New Year. These will be published on the Find My Collection Day page at the beginning of December. Details will also be printed on your black sacks, and published in the local press and on social media.

Missed collections

If your glass isn't collected, you can contact us to report a missed collection..

If you need help

Residents who are unable to put their boxes out at the edge of their property due to a disability, illness or injury can contact us to request an assisted collection.

Disposing of extra glass

If you would like an extra box, or your box has been lost or broken, you can collect one from your local Information Office or contact customer services on 0238 028 5000.

You can still use the community recycling banks to recycle any extra glass bottles and jars at busy times of the year, such as during Christmas.

For updates on glass and other waste collections, follow us on Facebook, Nextdoor and Twitter.

You can also subscribe to receive our update emails.