Glass and the recycling market do not mix. The recycling market “is in disarray,” said Public Works Director Fred Hurley.

Locally, the Housatonic Resources Recovery Authority (HRRA) is implementing a new recycling program for glass at transfer stations, states the authority’s website, [naviga:u]hrra.org[/naviga:u]. Several municipal recycling centers “will now collect glass separate from the mixed recycling stream.”

“We have three towns” participating in a pilot program at their transfer stations — Bethel, Ridgefield, and Redding — “to see about pulling glass out of the single-stream,” said Mr Hurley. Newtown’s recycling center at the transfer station recently began collecting recyclables as single-stream, meaning all materials go in the same container.

“We are still single-streaming but ready to switch over for people to put glass in a separate container,” he said. Mr Hurley, though, is first “hoping to learn lessons from the pilot program.

“It will help to pull glass out to improve quality of recyclables. We are looking for a local market for glass,” he said.

Following a vote on Monday, September 24, at an HRRA meeting, the authority approved removing glass from the mixed recycling stream.

“This is happening across America due to market conditions and the China Sword. The HRRA will be the first in the state to move in this direction,” stated HRRA Executive Director Jennifer A. Heaton-Jones.

According to [naviga:u]Washington[/naviga:u][naviga:u] State Recycling Association[/naviga:u], the China Sword refers to recycling restrictions. The site discusses “China’s restrictions on imported recyclable materials and the resulting disruptions in recycling markets.”

Newtown is prepared to separate the glass from recyclables at the transfer station in the future.

“We revamped our compactor, and we are there. We are just about ready to go with a glass removal program,” Mr Hurley said, adding that Newtown is “still in single-stream mode right now, but may change shortly.”

No change is taking place at curbside at present, he said.

“Continue as usual. There will be a lot of public notice,” about how residents should handle glass if and when changes take place for curbside recycling, Mr Hurley noted.

For now, he said, “glass can still go in bins at home.” However, “Change is pending.”

Curbside collection and drop-off for recyclables at the transfer station is free for Newtown residents.

Background

According to the HRRA’s website, “After your recyclables are picked up at the curb, waste haulers bring the materials to a transfer station. It is then taken to a Material Recovery Facility (MRF). The facility’s machines and employees sort the materials using conveyor belts, screens, optical scanners, forced air, and magnets to identify and group materials together. The sorted materials are then bailed and sold to market to be made into new products.”

The explanation continues, “While it’s convenient for residents to mix recyclables in the same bin, the sorting process for mixed recycling isn’t perfect. Machines and employees at the MRF cannot remove all the contamination. One of the biggest contaminates is broken glass particles. The pieces of glass attach themselves to paper, cardboard, and other recyclables contaminating the bails and reducing their market value. The glass itself that is sorted is contaminated with bits and pieces of other items such as small pieces of paper, bottle caps, metal, and straws. There is a cost to clean the glass in order for it to be recycled. Most MRF glass is sent to landfills as Alternate Daily Cover (ADC) and is never recycled into a new bottle or jar.”

Also, “In addition, the glass is hard on equipment, accelerating the wear and tear on conveyor belts, screens, and other moving parts,” the site states.

For various reasons, “The Housatonic Resources Recovery Authority is implementing a program to recycle glass separate from the mixed recycling stream. This will increase the value of the overall mixed recycling stream and make the separated glass more marketable to be sold and recycled into new bottles and jars. Glass is a Connecticut state-mandated recyclable. All residents, businesses, schools, and municipalities must recycle glass.”

Recycle only proper items such as beverage bottles, juice containers, condiment bottles, and food containers. Do not recycle the following: mirrors, drinking glasses, ceramic items, clay pots, crystal, lightbulbs, window glass, or ovenware.

Through the website, [naviga:u]recyclect.com[/naviga:u], residents can learn which items are recyclable and which are not.

For more information, contact the transfer station at 203-270-4307, Tuesday through Saturday, 7 am to 3 pm. The station is located on Ethan Allen Road.