Glass Disposal..

[Smithy]

Evening all - I hope everyone had a good week.

Just a quickie: what is the correct way to dispose of glass off-cuts (2mm float, mostly) please ?

Should it go to the bottle bank at the supermarket, to the council dump......I'm guessing that putting it out with the house waste is a total 'no-no' (even if it is safely packed and labelled, I'd completely understand if the bin men classed it as business waste).

I won't be producing tons of glass waste while I'm in learning mode, but I want to dispose of it responsibly and correctly.

Also be interested to learn what arrangements other forum members have to make if they produce a lot of glass waste/off-cuts.

[CanvasChris]

Local recycle dump... in the metal bin.

Believe me they'll be plenty even after 'learning mode'

[Abacus]

Float glass (flat glass) cannot be put into bottle banks, it is specialist recycling only. We put ours into our general waste bin, and unfortunately it goes to landfill. But it is inert so I'm not overly concerned about its environmental impact. In a domestic situation you should just stick it I the general waste wheely bin.

My friend has a double glazing business and has a glass skip which is emptied monthly and is (he thinks) recycled. I'm sceptical, as my "recycle" bin which I fill with cardboard paper etc is apparently also land filled

[GeoSpectrum]

It's technically trade waste so should be disposed of through commercial channels although I suspect the reality is that a lot of framers use the local recycling center if possible and dispose of it as household waste.......including me. It goes in the hardcore skip along with old toilets, broken sinks, bricks, earth, stones etc.

[YPF]

Absolutely it is trade waste. Around here if a person is found to have disposed of trade waste in one of the household recycling centres (the tip) then a fine of upto £5,000 can be handed out.

When I traded from home it took me a long time to find a company to dispose of glass economically. My current waste disposal company are happy for me to put everything in the same bin.

[mho]

Glass goes with everything else in our general waste bin.

[233ART]

Hi Smithy...
Reading`s recycling dept doesn`t recycle float glass, they tell you to put it in the household waste bin.Which I find rediculous...

[Steve N]

Should be paid for Trade Waste, goes in my Trade General Waste, as Biffa does not class it as recycle, because they sort the recycle by hand (moving from Biffa in the near future)

[Tudor Rose]

Ours get recycled and yes it is trade waste, even small amounts if you're framing for customers.

Early on with our business we had a visit from the Environment Agency who wanted to check that we had proper waste agreements in place, they were doing spot checks on lots of businesses and caught plenty of people out and landed them with fines. We pay a very reasonable amount once a fortnight to have our different bins emptied (cardboard and glass for recycling and then general waste). The recycling bins are cheaper because they don't go to landfill.

Our local tip has cameras and staff checking that trade waste isnt being disposed of. These days with cost cutting they are very, very keen to catch people out with this. In my opinion, for what it costs, it's just not worth the risk.

[Not your average framer]

I have a 660 litre trade waste bin on wheels, which is emptied once a fortnight and as it happens is the cost of emptying the 660 litre bin is not much more than the cost of emptying a smaller 360 litre bin, so I save money by having the larger bin and only having it emptied once a fortnight.

Most of us are fully aware of the following info, but hopefully it will be helpful info for those who are about to get into the whole trade waste thing for the first time.

Some local authorities will allow small businesses to apply to dispose of their trade waste to dispose of their waste in their household waste bins, but there are different requirements according to the policy of the local authority.

My own local authority do not offer any trade waste disposal services at, so this does not apply for my business and therefore I have use the services of a specialist commercial company. It is important to find a company which gives you the best value as prices and terms of contract can vary quite a lot. Small companies often charge less than larger companies, so beware and check out where you can get the best deal.

Everything which goes into the bin is categorised on the contract between myself and my trade waste provider and every year I am required to sign a new waste transfer note adding my trade classification number, which tells the govenment what class of business I am running.

The trade waste service provider has set up my contract to include glass, wood, paper based products and a food category which include things like tea bags. This means that I am legally covered to put any of these items into my bin. As far as I know all that goes into my bin ends up as landfill.

[michelle]

Centrado will dispose of your glass waste for £50 a year which I think is really good value. They pick up and drop off green bins with your delivery, very easy!

[GeoSpectrum]

Humm, I currently get my glass from Wessex. Didn't they used to offer a similar service? I'll call them tomorrow.

[Smithy]

Great stuff.....thanks all.

[Graysalchemy]

Since you are all running commercial businesses then like all your waste it is classified as commercial waste and should not be put in local recycling, household waste etc.

Mine all goes in the big bin with the rest of my rubbish.

[Otters Pool Studio]

Wessex still do it. I have 2 green glass waste bins below my Excalibur and the offcuts get dropped straight in. There is an annual fee and a couple of quid per box when emptied, but at least its quick, easy, safe, and of course, legal.

[stoupa747]

Just a further cautionary word. As a commercial business you are also required to have a waste transfer licence before you can transport any waste for disposal. It can be organised online from the Environment agency site and takes about 10 minutes, It is free as long as you do not carry any builders waste and could save you a fine of up to 5K.
We have a westcountry framing /retail business and produce about 150,000 litres of waste a year. Up to the begining of this year it all went into landfill at a cost of £2500 per year, after a review we are now recycling 90% and have reduced annual cost to £800. We haven't yet found anyone who wants waste MDF or mirror glass and our framers refuse to pick the bits of polcore out of the Morso waste! We now have a seperate glass skip collected fortnightly at a cost of £100 pa.