Sioux City, Iowa, considers glass recycling options

City council discusses possibility of discontinuing glass collection.

An article in the Sioux City Journal, Iowa, reports that the city council voted Monday, June 20, 2016, to continue gathering information on the viability of collecting glass in curbside recycling bins.

The decision came as a result of a request put forth by Van’s Sanitation and Recycling, the Le Mars, Iowa-based company that processes the city’s recyclables. The company says glass is damaging to its equipment and is a danger to employees.Van’s Sanitation is seeking to phase out glass items coming through the facility as soon as possible, the article says.

The council decided to look further into the costs and options associated with the process after a presentation by Melissa Campbell, an environmental services analyst for the city. Campbell voiced the recommendation of the Environmental Advisory Board to begin collecting glass in separate drop-off locations from the other recyclables, which are commingled , according to the newspaper. Campbell added that this would increase the value of recyclables.

A Kansas City, Iowa-based company would be willing to pick up the glass from a centralized location free of charge, she said.


“From an environmental standpoint, we want to see the highest amount of materials recycled, and it’s best to separate,” Campbell said.

A second option would be to take the recycling to a facility that would allow glass in a single-stream, Campbell said. One such company, Millennium Recycling in Sioux Falls, Iowa, would charge $25 per ton to accept glass with other recyclables. This would cost the city, which recycles an average of 197 tons per month, about $5,000 per month, Campbell said.

“We have the right to determine where that product goes, according to the contract, and we ought to be the person who’s driving the bus as far as where we’re going to take it, based on what we’re going to get for it,” Mayor Bob Scott said at the meeting. “If we have to take the glass out [of single-stream], I’m not opposed to that. But only if we know what the cost for everything is based upon us gathering the number and us making the decision on where it’s going to go,” the newspaper reports Scott saying.

Sioux City resident David Bernstein told the council he believes many people will not recycle glass if they cannot add it to their curbside receptacles.

“Glass gets recycled more heavily when it’s in single-stream, when you have all of your recycling in one container,” he said. “I’d just like to see the city really try and continue to have a solution that allows for glass to be part of that stream.” 

Get curated news on YOUR industry.

Enter your email to receive our newsletters.

Loading...