GL 70
The pack is clear glass. The three glass codes are colours: 70 clear, 71 green, 72 brown.
- Material
- Colourless glass
- Code
- GL 70
- Family
- Glass
- Defined by
- Commission Decision 97/129/EC
Which bin, usually
Usually the glass bin, the bottle bank or mixed recycling. Where bottle banks are split by colour, clear glass goes in the clear slot. Most US kerbside programmes take colours mixed and sort them later, the US EPA says; take metal lids off and put them in with metal, and keep broken glass out.
Whether this goes in your recycling depends on your local collection; check your council or municipality's sorting guide.
The material
Colourless glass: clear, untinted glass.
Where you see it
Clear jars for jam, sauces and baby food, and clear bottles for spirits, milk, water and soft drinks.
What it does not mean
GL 70 does not mean every clear glass object goes in the bottle bank; drinking glasses, window glass and ovenware are not packaging glass and are usually refused.
The number is the glass colour, nothing more. It does not cover the lid, cork or label, and it does not mean that other glass (drinking glasses, window glass, ovenware) belongs in the same bin as bottles and jars.
Other ways it is printed
- GL under a 70 in a triangle of arrows
- GL 70, GL70 or 70 GL in plain text
Other glass codes
Sources
- Commission Decision 97/129/EC of 28 January 1997 establishing the identification system for packaging materials (OJ L 50, 20.2.1997), as adopted — UK National Archives copy (Annex VI: Colourless glass, GL, 70) — checked 2026-09-23
- US EPA: How Do I Recycle Common Recyclables (Glass: colours mixed, broken glass, metal caps) — checked 2026-09-23
Written in our own words from these public texts and checked on the date shown. ASTM D7611 and ISO 14021 are sold by their publishers; only their public catalogue text is used here.