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Hernando Today

County Resurrects Glass Recycling Program

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By TONY MARRERO

Published: October 10, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - The sound of tinkling glass is ringing in the air again at county recycling stations and transfer centers.

The county last month quietly resurrected its glass recycling program. The material is now being accepted at the main landfill facility north of Brooksville, both transfer stations and at three existing recycling sites.

The glass will still not be picked up from curbside bins in Spring Hill.

The move comes more than three years after the county stopped accepting glass, mainly because there was no market for the material.

There still isn't, says county Recycling Coordinator Rick McCaffrey.

Only one company in the state accepts glass and its closest facility is in Sarasota. The firm pays the county $15 a ton for brown and clear glass. For green glass, the county has to pay $15 a ton.

In either case, the county has to pay to haul the material to Sarasota, so it doesn't make financial sense, McCaffrey said.

Then there were the complications of sorting the glass and dealing with contamination. A window pane in a bin can ruin a whole load and prompt the company to reject it and the material winds up in the landfill anyway.

So, to many recyclers' chagrin, the county stopped accepting glass in early 2005.

But, McCaffrey said, "You hate to stop recycling anything."

Many in the county felt the same way, said Utilities Director Joe Stapf. He has fielded many calls and comments asking about why the county won't recycle glass.

"We thought maybe we can try to make it work a different way," Stapf said.

Now the glass that once carried everything from wine to applesauce will soon be under the massive tires of the landfill's dump trucks.

"We're going to crush it and use it for road base," McCaffrey said.

The plan is to run over the glass with a bulldozer, scoop the shiny bits into a dump truck and use the material to build up the roads that run up the side of the garbage mountains at the Northwest Landfill Facility on U.S. 98.

Currently, the county buys limerock or gravel for those roadbeds, Stapf said. The amount of glass the county brings in likely won't make much of a dent in that bill. The most glass collected in one year was just more than 400 tons.

"But every little bit helps," he said.

That same principle makes for another motivator to recycle glass. The county is scrambling to get a new garbage cell permitted and constructed at the Northwest Landfill Facility on U.S. 98 before the existing cell there reaches capacity.

The backup — and potentially costly — plan is to ship garbage out of county, so every load of glass that stays out of the landfill helps reduce the chance of that happening.

Debbie and Jerry McKevitt of Brooksville are among the county recyclers rejoicing about the news.

The couple stores their recyclables in the garage of their Croom Road home. The paper, plastic and aluminum go to the bins in the parking lot of the County Government Center in Brooksville. But the McKevitts haul their glass up to a recycling center in Floral City.

"It's important to us, so that's why we spend the time and gas to do it," Debbie said.

The couple makes occasional trips to the landfill on U.S. 98 to drop off yard waste, so they'll put the glass onto the trailer, Debbie said.

Stapf said the county may consider adding a glass bin at the government center but wants to see how many problems arise at the unmanned sites such as Wal-Mart on Cortez Boulevard. Some people dump garbage in the recycling bins there, ruining the load, Stapf said.

Debbie McKevitt says she hopes it happens.

"If it is convenient for people, we have a better chance of getting folks to create a new habit," she said.

Where to take your glass

Northwest Landfill Facility, 14450 Landfill Road (on U.S. 98, just south of Citrus County line).

Eastside Transfer Station, 33070 Cortez Blvd., Ridge Manor.

Westside Transfer Station, 2525 Osowaw Boulevard (just west of U.S. Highway 19).

Target, 4401 Commercial Way, Spring Hill.

Wal-Mart, 13300 Cortez Blvd., Brooksville.

Winn-Dixie, 2240 Commercial Way, Spring Hill (at Timber Pines).

Note that glass will not be picked up as part of the county's curbside pickup program.

What to recycle: A good rule of thumb is if it carried food, drink or other product that came from a grocery store, it can be placed in the bins. Plate glass such as: window panes or furniture pieces is a no-no. Remove glass containers from bags before placing them in a bin.

Reporter Tony Marrero can be reached at 352-544-5286 or lmarrero@hernandotoday.com.

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