One World Recycling History
 

As early as 4000 BC glass was used in the Middle East as a glaze to decorate beads. By 1550 BC, coloured glass vessels were widespread and used for cooking and drinking. The earliest known clear glass is a vase found in Nineveh in Assyria, dating from around 800 BC, which is now in the British Museum in London.

Until the 18th and 19th centuries glass was very expensive and was used for limited applications, such as stained glass windows for churches. Large-scale glass manufacture began with the industrial revolution with the mass production of glass containers beginning at the onset of the 20th century and glass light bulb production automated in 1926.

Nowadays glass is much less expensive and is taken for granted as a packaging material in addition to its use in windows and other applications. It is literally such a waste to landfill a glass bottle when a more cost effective and environmentally sustainable option is available.