Glass recycling

How we recycle glass 

We recycle glass through the comingled recycling bin — your yellow-lidded kerbside bin — and the Container Deposit Scheme (CDS Victoria). Victorians are currently recovering 75 per cent of packaging glass through these systems.   

The glass we collect from your yellow bin is taken to our recycling contractor Visy’s material recovery facility in Springvale to be separated. From there, it’s taken to the Visy glass beneficiation plant in Laverton. Once there, it’s sorted into three colours:

• flint (clear)
• amber (brown)
• green

Once sorted into colour, the glass is ready to be remanufactured into new products.

In Glen Eira, the bottles that you return through CDS Victoria are collected by Return-It and taken to Re.Group’s materials recovery facility and glass beneficiation plant in Dandenong South. Here, they’re sorted by colour and sent on for reuse.

Glass makes up about a quarter of our recycling by weight but only makes up a fraction by volume (3.5 per cent). Our 2025 audit data shows that we collect about 5.5L of glass from a typical yellow bin each fortnight. This means that a 120L kerbside glass bin would be left largely empty by most Glen Eira households, even with a monthly collection.

How we’re responding to the mandate

To inform our position and ensure the best outcome for our residents, we joined a group of 34 Victorian Councils reviewing the mandated glass service.

Modelling that we commissioned in 2025, prior to the current oil crisis, identified that the purple bin will:

• cost Glen Eira at least $5.5 million to implement, and
• provide little improvement to our recovery of glass compared to our existing co-mingled collection. 

Accepting wine and spirit bottles as part of the Container Deposit Scheme would increase glass recovery at a far lower cost to our residents.

Queensland has accepted wine and spirit bottles in their scheme since 2023. Western Australia will include them in their scheme later this year. South Australia, New South Wales, the ACT, and the Northern Territory will accept wine and spirit bottles from 2027.

To meet the needs of the Glen Eira community, we are requesting that the Victorian Government:

• extend the timeframe for councils to introduce a glass recycling service.
• expand the Victorian Container Deposit Scheme to accept wine and spirit bottles.
• share the business case for separate glass recycling.

Advocating for kerbside reform is one of our key priorities in our Advocacy Priorities 2025–2026. To learn about our advocacy positions, visit our Advocacy page.