Can You Recycle Liquor Bottles? (Don’t Make These Mistakes)

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Jean Richardson

Jean Richardson is a lover of knowledge, in all forms. He has spent over 15 years as a high school teacher, instructing students in history, geography, mathematics, and more.

Liquor can add a variety of flavors and be used in a wide variety of alcoholic drinks. Therefore, this might bring up a series of important questions such as, how do I dispose of these bottles? Are they bad for the environment?

Furthermore, you may also be wondering if you can recycle your liquor bottles? Well, continue reading to find out these answers and more! 

Can You Recycle Liquor Bottles?

You can recycle liquor bottles no matter where you live in the United States. Furthermore, you can recycle them in your blue recycling bin or at your local recycling center. However, some places require a separation of different types of materials beforehand so check with your local recycling center to know your area’s policies.  

Fortunately, there are different things you can do with your glass bottles to recycle them. Read on to learn all the information about recycling liquor bottles!

How To Recycle Liquor Bottles?

There are a couple of different ways to recycle liquor bottles depending on where you live. 

However, it is important to pay attention to the bottle laws in your state to make sure you know all the ways you can correctly recycle.

Read About Bottle Laws

States have different laws when it comes to recycling. For example, some states allow you to return bottles for money, while other states only allow recycling in curbside bins. 

Unfortunately, some places don’t even have recycling. 

Therefore, before you recycle any liquor bottle, do some research about the recycling process and the recycling process in your area. 

Furthermore, if you go to your town website, you should be able to find out about recycling measures in your area.

Doing your research into what your area does for recycling can help you know what to do with your liquor bottles. 

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Additionally, if your state does not recycle, you can always upcycle the bottles. 

So continue reading to find out how to do that!

Clean The Bottles

After you have done your research, you need to clean your bottles. 

Furthermore, use soap and warm water to clean the bottles of any leftover alcohol in them. Sometimes you can even run them through the dishwasher.

Keep in mind, that some places require you to take the labels off the bottles before recycling them, however, this can be done by using moisture and heat to get the label off cleanly.

Recycle The Bottles

After you clean the bottles, you should recycle the liquor bottles. 

Furthermore, once you know the way your state recycles liquor bottles, you can choose where to put your recycling.

If you have curbside recycling, put your clean liquor bottles in the recycling bins. 

Then, the recycling company will pick them up and get rid of them for you. 

However, if you have a bottle policy where you can get a 10-cent return, look up your local bottle and can recycling place. 

They will take your liquor bottles and recycle them and give you up to 10 cents for your return.

Finally, if your area does not have recycling, you can upcycle your bottles. 

For example, you can use them as vases, decorations, or various other items.

Are Liquor Bottles Biodegradable?

Are Liquor Bottles Biodegradable?

Most liquor bottles are made of glass that is not biodegradable, however, glass instead can be recycled and reused repeatedly. 

Furthermore, recycling glass includes breaking it broken down into pieces and then melting it all together to make new glass for new items. 

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The only thing necessary during this step is to sort the glass into its correct color so that it is only being used to make the same color glass. 

Fortunately, glass can be recycled over and over again and utilized for many different things.

How To Reuse And Upcycle Liquor Bottles?

There are a few different ways to reuse and upcycle your liquor bottles. You can use them to make gifts or even create home decor options.

Here are some more different ways to reuse and upcycle your liquor bottles:

  • Keepsake bottles: You can insert rolled-up pictures or other small mementos down the bottleneck, and they will settle on the bottom. 
  • Soap dispenser: You can make a soap dispenser by placing a pour cap on top and dish soap in the bottle. It will be an excellent decorative dish soap dispenser.
  • Oil dispenser: Just like a soap dispense, you can use the same concept with oil. Add an excellent decorative label, and you can leave it on your counter.
  • Flower vases: Once a bottle is cleaned, you can use it for your flowers. You can trim your fresh flowers and place them in the bottles.
  • Candle holders: You can cut the bottle and use the bottom of the bottle to make a vase, and then you can put your candle wax in there to make homemade candles. 
  • Light fixtures:  There are many different ways you can make light fixtures with liquor bottles. You can add strings of battery-operated lights in the bottles to make a light fixture. You can also create table lamps out of the bottles and cut a hole in the bottom to have an electric plug go through the bottle.
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These are just a few of the different things you can do to upcycle your liquor bottles. 

Are Liquor Bottles Bad For The Environment?

Liquor bottles are not great for the environment but are better than both aluminum and plastic options. 

Unfortunately, when liquor bottles are created, the creation process emits many diesel and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

This can be pretty harmful, however, the best thing is that they can be recycled again into new products.

Furthermore, the reusing of the bottles helps to eliminate the amount of waste that can be placed into the environment because the same material is being used repeatedly. 

To learn more, you can also read our posts on whether you can recycle wine, beer, champagne, and soda glass bottles, whether you can recycle laundry detergent bottles, and whether you can recycle bleach bottles.

Conclusion

Liquor bottles can be recycled and repurposed over and over again. However, it is essential to know how to recycle the bottle best in your area, because you can then decide what you want to do with your liquor bottle.

Furthermore, even if recycling is available in your state, you can upcycle your bottles and create fabulous home decor items and gifts. Now that you know the best ways to recycle and reuse your liquor bottles, you can make environmentally conscious decisions and help the planet! 

Author

  • Jean Richardson

    Jean Richardson is a lover of knowledge, in all forms. He has spent over 15 years as a high school teacher, instructing students in history, geography, mathematics, and more.

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