Pennsylvania Resource Council to host ‘traveling glass recycling bin program’
Residents will now be able to continue recycling glass in June as part of the Pennsylvania Resources Council’s “traveling glass bin program.”
This initiative comes after 20 South Hills communities received a new waste hauling contract at the beginning of 2019 telling residents not to put any glass in recycling bins for curbside pickup. Since then, PRC hosted 27 glass collection events last year to make up for the change and ended up collecting around 200 tons of glass.
“What we learned in 2019 is that there are many communities that recognize glass recycling is a basic and essential recycling service that needs to be available to their residents and be able to provide a solution,” PRC’s environmental program coordinator, Ashley DiGregorio, said.
And in the midst of a pandemic, the drop-off is designed to be a contact-free, self-serve service that will be monitored. While the organization is still evaluating what protocols it will introduce to keep the donation site contact-free, Ms. DiGregorio said the group is thinking of having one volunteer monitor the site and have traffic cones and other signage to make sure people are keeping a distance while dropping off glass.
The bin’s first appearance, hosted by Hampton and state Rep. Lori Mizgorski, will be held at the Hampton Community Swimming Pool from June 6-11.
“I am pleased we are able to provide this service,” Ms. Mizgorski said in a news release. “This will be a great opportunity for our residents to safely and responsibly recycle their glass.”
The second appearance will be located at the City of Hermitage Fire Station #3 in Mercer County on Route 418 from June 13-18. Hours of operation for both sites will be from 6 a.m. to sundown.
This weeklong service will be free of charge for residents, as communities and commercial sites will cover the fee.
Glass bottles, jars and jugs of all colors will be accepted at the recycling bin, with no sorting required. Containers should be empty and rinsed, with lids and labels still on.
Once collected, the glass is then shipped to PRC’s partner, CAP Glass, to prepare for mill specifications. The glass will then be used to make beer and liquor bottles, pickle and mayonnaise jars and other consumer products, according to the PRC website.
In the past, Ms. DiGregorio said drop-off recycling has been “extremely effective,” as officials have noticed a smaller amount of “bad quality” glass is recycled back because of the process of separating each bottle for the drop-off.
“Our hope this year is to continue to serve any communities in our region, but especially to expand our program to Allegheny Valley area and the East Hills whom we haven’t been able to serve yet,” Ms. DiGregorio said.
“Communities have not had the opportunity to think about some of even rather basic services and needs for good reason: We’re truly in an emergency,” she said. “As we’re coming to a new level of cautiousness, I think community members are starting to have that sense again of wanting to continue to do the things that are not directly related to COVID-19 but are very important for community stewardship and sustainability.”