Many decades ago, people used to collect bottles and sell them to a bottle recycling man who comes around the neighbourhood on his bicycle, getting 5 sen for a small bottle while bigger ones could get 10 sen or more.

Money at that time was big, where 5 sen or 10 sen could go a long way, so there was motivation to labour to collect as many glass bottles before the recycling man returns on his next trip.

Now the recycling centres do not take bottles, much less glass pieces, as it seem that there is little profit to recycle glass.

The old newspaper man who comes to my neighbourhood only collects paper, metal, plastic and electrical equipment but refuses to take glass bottles even if given for free.

It is not worth the cost to take these heavy bulky glass bottles to the nearest glass recycling bin, but we only do so out of civic consciousness. To my horror, the glass recycling bin is always improperly filled with other rubbish.

In fact, I have complained to the media on the lack of civic duty to use the recycling bins in a proper manner, ‘Our recycling efforts need greater commitment’, (The Star, May 5, 2015).

It is inconceivable that there is no value for glass products as glass can be recycled and once upon a time there was a good value.

Upon inquiry, the recycling centres informed me that glass has a much lower value per kilogram than metal, paper and plastic, thus it is not worth the effort to collect recyclable glass as it does not make economic sense to spend so much time on low returns.

Glass manufacturers, bottle producing factories and enterprises which use high glass content must play a more prominent role in the glass recycling effort since glass is the main raw material. As such, these business entities must lead the way in all aspects of promoting the recycling of glass ranging from educational efforts to subsiding glass recycling bins and funding strategic collection centres.

Once there is value in glass, people will automatically be motivated to do their part in recycling glass for a greener earth, failing which improperly discarded glass bottles and glass pieces, being non-biodegradable, are a hazard and will contribute to rubbish landfills.