AKRON, Ohio — As we told you last year, the City of Akron started a program to help crack down on mixing glass with other recycled items. Now after a year, the city is expanding the program because it's been so successful. The program even helps the city make money.
Just in this program's first year, it collected nearly 180,000 pounds of glass from Akron residents. It’s been so successful the city has introduced three new purple bin locations.
“The program I think has really pushed the recycling game ahead,” said Casey Shelvin, Director of Sustainability and Resiliency, City of Akron.
These hard-to-miss purple bins scattered about Akron are making a big difference, an 80-ton difference to be exact.
“We've collected 80 tons of material over the last year in the bins,” said Mayor Shammas Malik. “We are really excited about how to make this accessible to folks all throughout the city.”
Akron’s glass recycling drop-off program is expanding its locations, adding three new bins to Firestone Metro Park, Kenmore Community Center and Joy Park on Akron’s east side.
The purple bins can hold seven tons of glass, which are emptied weekly. Solid waste and recycling manager Dan Dempsey said labels can be left on glass containers but make sure all products are cleaned. Other materials like Pyrex are prohibited.
“Bottles, that's certainly the biggest one, we like to see bottles of all kinds,” added Dempsey.
Glass recycling may sound pricey, but the city said it’s profiting, generating $1,600 this past year.
“We have found a way through this program that is environmentally responsible and sustainable but also financially responsible and actually it’s financially beneficial,” Shelvin added. “It's creating revenue.”
The non-profit World Wide Fund for Nature found that glass produced from recycled glass helps reduce related air pollution by 20% and related water pollution by 50%.
“We know that sustainability is a huge goal of ours and this is helping expand that and hopefully we are helping breeding this culture getting folks used to recycling,” Malik added.
Glass recycle drop-off locations:
* Akron’s Dog Park, 499 Memorial Parkway (pre-existing)
* Goodyear Heights Metro Park, 1950 Eastwood (pre-existing)
* Goodpark Golf Course, 530 Nome Ave (pre-existing)
* New Location! Kenmore Community Center overflow lot, 880 Kenmore Blvd.
* New Location! Joy Park Community Center, 825 Fuller St.
* New Location! Firestone Metro Park Little Turtle Pond Lot, 2620 Harrington Rd.
