Products made with glass materials have always been the favorite of many people. Aside from the fact that they signify luxury, their beauty is just relaxing to the soul. This is why you would always find many people going for products made partly or entirely with glass, despite their relatively high price. And this same reason is why glass table tops are in great use both in offices and at home.
While this is good, we are forced to look at another angle that is less considered by many people. And that is the environmental angle to this frequent use of glass. In this light, we want to consider what happens to these glass table tops after their lifetime or when they get broken.
Hence, we will be considering if you can recycle your glass table tops and how to go about this. We will also consider if you can dispose of broken glass tops the regular way, and how you need to properly dispose of them.
No doubt, there’s a lot to gain from here. And that is why we are only asking you to pay attention and get full insight into what we have for you. If you are ready, let’s go.
Are Glass Table Tops Recyclable?
Generally, glass table tops are one of the things people have come to fall in love with. In recent years, you will come across them in homes and offices for different uses. This alone raises the question of what would happen to these tables later on? Are they even recyclable? This important question is what we consider here.
Yes, glass table tops are recyclable. But this is not for all the glass table tops that you might have come across. Glass table tops share different materials and thicknesses. This is why there are disparities in the ease of recycling them. There are even some glass table tops that can’t be recycled at all because of the materials added to enhance their thickness and the resources that would be required to melt the glass cullet to the point where their recycling would be possible.
Because of this difficulty in recycling, you may find out that your local recycling company does not have the resources to recycle your glass tops. But then, this is not the end, there are special recycling stations that have been established to recycle difficult things like your glass table tops. The problem is just that you might not find these special recycling stations near you.
So, what do you have to do in this situation? There are steps to follow to have your glass tops recycled. In the next segment, we will consider these steps.
How To Recycle Glass Table Tops?
You are aware that there are some recycling difficulties that come with recycling your glass table tops, and you are probably confused about what to do next. Well, you shouldn’t be at a loss. We have explained four steps you can take to get your glass table tops recycled.
Confirm From Your Local Recycling Stations: You can’t always make assumptions that your local recycling station does not have what it takes to recycle glass tops. So, the first thing to do is to confirm with it. you might be surprised that your local recycling stations would have guidelines for accepting glass tops. In this case, what you have to deal with will just be to meet those guidelines. It is only where this is not possible that you will consider proceeding to stage two.
Scout For Special Recycling Stations: This is where you act like a private investigator trying to locate the special recycling stations nearest to you. But, don’t fret, it is not as difficult as you might be thinking; a simple query on the Google search engine would bring the recycling stations to the fore. You might even be surprised that your municipal recycling station accepts glass for recycling.
Determine The Quality Of Your Glass Tops: Determining the quality of your glass is not as difficult as it appears. If you still have the package box, you can get everything you need there. If not, what you have to do is measure the length, breadth and thickness of the glass. All these will prove useful when you contact the special recycling station. The attendant may ask for this information to know whether it fits into the type of glass they accept and what guidelines they have for accepting it.
Send Or Drop Off For Recycling: This, obviously, is the last stage. And what you do here is transfer the glass tops to the special recycling station for recycling. You can do this by either driving to their office or asking them to come to pick it up if they have a glass collection program.
If you follow these steps, then glass recycling shouldn’t be a problem for you. It is only when you are dealing with non-recyclable glass or you can’t find any station to accept your glass that you should consider trashing it.
Can You Throw A Broken Glass Table Top In Recycling Bin?
True, there are some glass materials that are recyclable. But does this mean that you can throw them in the recycling bin? Well, let’s find out together.
While it is great to put recyclables in the recycling bin, glass materials are not fit for the recycling bin. The reason for this is because of their fragility and their potential of causing harm when they are broken.
Glass tops are not meant for the recycling bin. If you must put them in the recycling bin, you have to have a separate bin for them which has been properly labeled as glass materials. Besides, if your local recycling station does not accept glass tops for recycling, then there is no point in putting the glass tops in the recycling bin.
If you do, you might contaminate the rest of the recyclable materials, and give recyclers more work to do, as they would be busy trying to sort out the broken glass tops from the rest of the materials.
Hence to avoid all these, ensure you follow the steps highlighted above under the segment of “How To Recycle Your Glass Table Tops”. If you need to dispose of them, there are also steps you need to follow. We will explain these steps later in the post.
Should You Throw Broken Glass In Garbage Bin?
Most times, the garbage is what pops up in our mind when we think of where to dispose of something. As good as this may be, there are some materials that are not destined for the garbage because of the potential harm they can cause. One of such materials is broken glasses.
In disposing of your broken glass, avoid throwing it in the garbage. The reason is that broken glass is sharp, and can injure the garbage collectors. Even where it ends up in the landfill, it can still injure the landfill operators by piercing their legs.
Also, throwing your broken glass in the garbage bin would only end up one way; it will go to the landfills. And glass is not known to biodegrade in real-time. In fact, it takes thousands of years for this to happen. So, you should always check the recyclability of your glass tops and send it for recycling to save the environment. It is only when this can’t be done that you should consider trashing your glass.
Trashing your glass also has a proper way to be done. The next segment addresses how you can properly dispose of your glass if it can’t be recycled.
How Do You Dispose Of A Glass Table Top?
Disposing of damaged or unwanted things sound easy to many people until they are faced with potentially dangerous things. This is where the problem springs up, as there is always confusion on where or how to properly dispose of them. with regards to glass table tops, this is the same problem. Glass could be dangerous if not handled carefully. That is why you have to carefully and properly dispose of it. Below, you will see how to go about this.
1. Wrap The Glass Top
In disposing of your glass table tops, you would need an old cloth or blanket to wrap the glass top. Ensure that the cloth or blanket is large enough to securely cover the glass top and give you more space to hold the blanket or cloth so that you would be able to carry it. Think of it as putting your glass top in a bag and carrying the bag by the handle.
2. Break It
Yes, you are now in the business of destroying your glass tops. In this stage, you would have to gently break the glass tops into small pieces. If they are already broken, ensure that the pieces are small enough not to cause obvious damage to you or tear the cloth or blanket you used to pack them. You can use a home hammer to break the glass into tiny pieces.
3. Pack, Tie and Put In A Box
In this next stage, what you are doing is packing and tying the broken glasses. Since the broken glasses are in a cloth or blanket, you only have to lift the four edges of the cloth or blanket such that broken glasses fall in it.
You would then tie the blanket to keep the glasses secured. After this, you would need a box, where you will put the tied cloth or blanket containing the broken glass. After putting it in the box, you can use some rags to wrap the blanket so that the broken glass will be better contained.
4. Dispose of Them
This is the last stage, and what you have to do is close the box and gently dispose of it. if your glass is the type that can be recycled, you should send it off for recycling. If it can’t be recycled, then you can place the box in the trash bin.
However, you have to ensure that the box is firmly sealed so that the content does not fall off. You can also label it as GLASS MATERIAL. This is so that anybody handling it will be better care to avoid unplanned injury.
If you do all these, you can be sure that you have properly disposed of your glass tops. Any method aside from this may be potentially dangerous to you and unwary people handling the glass.
Conclusion
Glass materials are great for everyday use because of the beauty and luxury they add to things. However, they might also be a problem to our environment if they are not properly managed and disposed of. To avoid this possibility, we have provided you with the things you can do such as recycling and properly disposing of the ones that can’t be recycled. The ball is now in your court to do the right thing.
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