Questions about glass recycling?

We don't currently offer a public drop off option for our glass collection service. If you are interested in free drop off options, consider bringing your glass waste to the UT Recycling Center at 2121 Stephenson Drive or one of the five public drop-off sites operated by the City of Knoxville.

No! Your city curbside recycling bins are single stream, which means your glass would be mixed with other recyclables like paper, metal and plastic. The local equipment used to process these recyclables is not set up for glass recycling, so glass in your City of Knoxville curbside bins is actually a contaminant.

For more information on what is accepted in these bins, visit: https://www.knoxvilletn.gov/cms/One.aspx?portalId=109562&pageId=166460

DO:

We accept any color of glass container in our bins for recycling. Clean glass has the most potential uses, so please rinse out your containers and remove lids, bottle caps, metal and plastic from your containers. Labels can stay on.

DON'T:

Do not put broken glass, mirrors, plate glass, laminated glass, crystal glassware, chinaware or other ceramics in the tote. We also don't accept glass that was used to store chemicals, biohazardous or radioactive materials.

Most of the glass will go to the Blount County's glass recycling facility , where it will be crushed into gravel and sand for use in local road construction projects. The cleanest glass containers will go to local artisans to make into tumblers, wind chimes and other artistic projects, and colorful glass can be used for landscaping mulch or crushed into chips for terrazzo.

Glass will also go to our sister company, Vitriform3D, for use in research into new ways of 3D printing with glass waste for wall tiles, decor, planters and other architectural applications. You can follow their progress here!

While we are happy to offer the convenience of curbside collection, there are other ways to recycle glass in Knoxville!

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The city of Knoxville provides glass recycling at five public drop-off locations. This glass waste is shipped to Atlanta, the closest city with a glass processing center.

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The University of Tennessee also offers glass recycling at 2121 Stephenson Drive, which is then taken to Blount County for crushing and use as gravel and sand for local road construction projects.

About 8 million tons of waste go to landfill each year in the U.S. In some cities, glass is crushed and use as a landfill cover, which is the lowest value use. In many larger cities, glass is shipped to a glass processing center where it is converted into cullet or coarse sand and used to make new glass containers and fiberglass insulation. Finer sand can be used as for sandblasting or pool filtration.