By Pepper Fisher

PORT ANGELES – As promised in February, glass recycling is back. The City of Port Angeles announced the return of glass recycling services at both the Port Angeles Regional Transfer Station and the Blue Mountain Transfer Station beginning this Saturday, June 24th and at no charge to residents.

Public Works Director Mike Healy says they signed a contract with glass recycler Strategic Materials in the Seattle area, and with a local trucking company to haul the brand-new bins made especially for glass when they’re full.

“So, we went with them for a couple reasons. Number one, they were willing to pay us for glass as opposed to us paying someone else. But more importantly, they guarantee that the glass gets recycled, as opposed to some other firms that will only recycle to the level they can offset it, and sell it. So, we have full assurance that any glass we take there is going to be recycled, which is important to us from an environmental perspective.”

It’s actually a Glass Recycling Pilot Program. They want to give staff time to assess the demand for glass recycling and evaluate the cost of the program. The data they collect will help them develop a long-term, sustainable glass recycling strategy.

That means the program will depend on people actually using it.

“We’re doing the right thing environmentally, we’re doing the right thing for sustainability of landfills, and we’re doing the right thing to expand the square footage available and our resident’s garages. So, hopefully, doing all those three things, by giving them a place to take the glass they’ve stored up so they can store more stuff in the garage, I think we’re doin’ well.”

An added bonus; no separating of glass is necessary. Healy says, as far as Strategic Materials is concerned, glass is glass is glass.

Healy said the long term goal of the program may not include having pick-up service at the curb, because having a dedicated truck for that usually comes with so much carbon emission that it offsets the purpose of recycling the glass in the first place. He does hope that participation levels are high enough that the City could someday soon begin adding more drop-off locations to make it more convenient.

The west side Regional Transfer Station is open Monday through Saturday from 9 to 5, and the Blue Mountain Transfer Station is open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, also 9 to 5 p.m.

(City of Port Angeles photo of new recycle bin)