Glass waste dumps from crystal glass production is an health issue due to the occurrence of antimony, arsenic, cadmium and lead in crystal glass. Recovery of those elements could both decrease pollution and recycle metals in the circular economy. Pyrometallurgy is a potential recovery method, yet limited by high energy consumption. Here we tested a lower-energy alternative in which glass is mechanically activated in a ball mill and leached with nitric acid. Results show that mechanical activation destabilised the glass structure and resulted in 78% lead extraction during leaching at 95 °C. Temperature had the most signifcant efect on extraction, whereas acid concentration, from 0.5 to 3 M, and leaching time, from 0.5 to 12 h, had insignifcant efects. In each experiment, 75% of the fnal extracted amount was achieved within 30 min. The study demonstrates potential for lead extraction from glass waste at lower acid concentration, shorter leaching time and lower temperature, of 95 °C, than traditional pyrometallurgical extraction, typically operating at 1100 °C.