Glass is often used as a container for drinks and food, and with a new bottle these days consisting of between 70 - 75 % of recycled glass, it makes glass one of the most important secondary raw material.

In order to recover as much glass as possible, its collection and recycling was regulated in the 1990 German Packaging Directive. As a result glass is collected, separated by colour, in bottle banks that are located at a convenient distance to households. The white, green and brown pieces of broken glass are taken to glassworks, where they are then melted and used to form new bottles and glasses.