The problem: Too many people who are recycling glass through the city’s purple bins are throwing non-glass items into the glass bins, causing workers to have to separate the items. Items that aren’t separated could cause the entire bins, glass and all, to be rejected and wind up in a landfill.
The proposed solution: City officials are considering modifying the bins so only glass bottles can go in them. They, along with Ripple Glass and Republic Services, the city’s trash/recycling contractor, are also looking to continue educating the public about proper recycling.
Our take: That’s a start. Modified bins and education will help, but how much? Have we given up on the bigger picture of making glass recycling easy?
We suspect the majority of Jefferson City residents don’t recycle glass because it’s not simple and seamless. Steve Jobs created what is now a trillion-dollar company based in good part on those principles.
If we truly want recycling to work, we have to adhere to the KISS principle: Keep it simple, stupid. That’s why our city’s single-stream recycling program has been able to keep so much of our waste stream from landfills.
How can this be done with glass? The most logical solution is to make it part of our existing single-stream recycling program. Currently, it’s banned from our blue recycling bins.
Glass wasn’t included in Republic Service’s contract with the city because Republic doesn’t want to deal with it. They’re in the business to make money, and glass just isn’t very profitable.
In a recent story, we quoted Jefferson City Neighborhood Services Manager Jayme Abbott as saying the recycling industry is in “upheaval” after China stopped accepting many recyclable materials from the United States because the items were too contaminated. Even before then, in 2016, Forester Network reported “the market for recycled glass is poor to non-existent in most parts of the country.”
That leaves residents who want to go the extra mile to bring their glass to Ripple Glass, 2284 Hyde Park Road, or one of the four purple glass recycling bins that the city has contracted with Ripple to put out.
Is it an option to modify our contract with Republic Services to add glass to our single-stream recycling program? If so, would they charge us more, and how much? Then the question becomes: How much do we want to subsidize a program that makes environmental sense, but not economic sense?
News Tribune