After much deliberation, the Clinton County Solid Waste Authority will no longer be collecting or accepting glass bottles for recycling starting January 1, 2016. Glass bottle recycling has been a part of our recycling program since the early 1990s, but as a result of continuing negative economics, high contamination rates, operational hardships, and limited markets we will no longer subsidize recycling of this commodity.

Overall, recycling is a commodity business where the recyclables are sold to be reprocessed into new products that run the gamut from roadways to bottles and cans to fiberglass and apparel. Prices for recyclables are so low today that it is tough to cover capital expenses and operating costs associated with recycling. As any business, recycling programs need to operate in a cost-effective and environmentally sound manner. The dramatic swings in global commodity pricing and other economic factors have affected recycling businesses nationwide and are forcing managers to make difficult decisions regarding the materials collected and recycled by their programs.

Overall it is typically more expensive for municipalities to recycle glass bottles than it is to send the material to a landfill. For example, recycled glass bottles have been approved as an alternative to using raw materials for manufactured sand. The cost for utilizing glass in this application is typically 3 times higher than purchasing sand, with the same characteristics, from the local quarry. If a contractor has the option on which material to use, nine times out of ten the price will be the deciding factor.

As we strive to make our recycling program sustainable we will continue to make the difficult decisions such as the elimination of glass bottle recycling. Please look for additional information during the upcoming weeks regarding this change to our recycling program.