Removing glass from recycling program affects recycling rate, grant amounts

The Clinton County (Pennsylvania) Solid Waste Authority, which operates the Wayne Township Landfill in McElhattan, Pennsylvania, stopped accepting glass for recycling Jan. 1, 2016. That change reduced the total tonnage of recyclables from residents and commercial businesses in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, which will reduce the amount of Municipal Recycling Program performance grants the city receives from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in the future. 

According to a report on the website for the city’s The Express newspaper, Lock Haven receives grants from the Pennsylvania DEP based on how much material is recycled in the city. City Planner Leonora M. Hannagan told the paper that in 2016, Lock Haven residents and businesses recycled 660.7 tons of plastic, paper and cardboard, 202.25 tons less than were recycled in 2015, when glass was still accepted for recycling.

The authority says limited markets for glass make the material too expensive to continue to recycle. However, its elimination from the recycling program will decrease the grants the city can expect to receive from 2016 onward, The Express reports.

Lock Haven received a grant in the amount of $6,400 this year for the 818.73 tons of material it recycled in 2014. The grant it receives for 2016 will be lower, however, based on the smaller tonnage of material recycled by the community, according to the newspaper.