Hi, may I reuse glass bottles from stuff i bought? If I finish a snapple and want to reuse the bottle, does the bottle need tevila in a mikvah?

Glass drink bottles, such as Snapple bottles are subject to much debate among the poskim of our times. On the one hand, we only use them once. Most people view them as disposable. You throw it out as soon as you are done drinking the Snapple. On the other hand, the bottle itself is very much a real utensil. It is reusable, you can buy glass bottles in home goods stores, and we only throw them away because we are living in a more affluent time. We have no need for the bottle, but the bottle is still a utensil, not disposable. The poskim give various reasons and solutions how to permit drinking from these bottles in the first place.

Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (Igros Moshe Y”D 2 siman 40) writes that the bottle was not a utensil until a Jew opened it, therefore it does not require tevila. The Sridei Aish (Y”D 2 siman 29) writes that one should have in mind not to acquire the bottle when buying the drink. As long as the bottle belongs to a non-Jew it does not need tevila. In a similar vein, in Mishneh Halachos (4 siman 107) it says that one would not buy something that is assur to them, and so a person never bought the bottle – even if they didn’t have in mind that they don’t want it.

However, in your scenario you wish to reuse the bottle after you finish the drink. According to Rabbi Moshe Feinstein’s reasoning, since a Jew gave the glass bottle the status of a utensil, the bottle was “made” by a Jew. Therefore, you may continue to use the bottle without further tevila. There are other poskim who recommend doing tevila without a bracha, but the custom is to be lenient.