{"id":802908,"date":"2020-01-09T18:50:08","date_gmt":"2020-01-10T01:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=377084"},"modified":"2020-01-09T18:50:08","modified_gmt":"2020-01-10T01:50:08","slug":"ask-eartha-new-glass-stations-especially-helpful-for-single-stream-recyclers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/ask-eartha-new-glass-stations-especially-helpful-for-single-stream-recyclers\/","title":{"rendered":"Ask Eartha: New glass stations especially helpful for single-stream recyclers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Blue River glass recycling station.<\/strong>
Courtesy High Country Conservation Center<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Dear Eartha,<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve seen some of the new glass recycling stations around town, and I don\u2019t really understand the purpose. Why wouldn\u2019t people just drop off their glass when they\u2019re at a recycling center? <\/em><\/p>\n

Make no mistake, residents can still drop off glass at the Breckenridge, Dillon and Frisco Recycling Centers. But there\u2019s more than one way to recycle here in Summit County. The short answer to your question is this: For residents who use single-stream (also called curbside recycling) the stations are a convenient way to recycle glass, a highly valuable material that\u2019s given a new life right here in Colorado.<\/p>\n

After all, glass is not accepted in single stream. Why? Let\u2019s dive in.<\/p>\n

No glass in single-stream<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Single-stream recycling is a paid service, typically provided by the same company that picks up your trash. Except glass, all recyclables go into the same bin. There\u2019s no need for multiple bins or sorting out each plastic bottle, cereal box, newspaper, cardboard box, soda can or whatever else.<\/p>\n

After your single-stream recycling gets picked up, it goes to the Summit County Resource Allocation Park, where it\u2019s smashed into a big block called a bale. Once there\u2019s a full truckload of bales, it all gets transported to Denver for further sorting and sale.<\/p>\n

Can you imagine a glass bottle\u2019s fate in a such a scenario? You guessed it: shattered. All those tiny, barely-visible slivers of glass then get lodged into cereal boxes, newspapers, cardboard boxes, etc. That makes everything in the bale difficult to recycle, and the cost of recycling it all, if it\u2019s even an option given the glass contamination, increases dramatically.<\/p>\n

By separating them, glass bottles (and all the other items in the single stream bin) hold more value and, most importantly, actually get recycled. Neighborhood glass stations make it a whole heck of a lot easier for anyone with single stream to recycle their glass containers.<\/p>\n

From those neighborhood stations, a company called Clear Intentions hauls all your glass to the Front Range, where it\u2019s recycled and returned to store shelves in just 30 days.<\/p>\n

Why glass, why now?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

When it comes to the big picture of recycling in Summit County, we recycle and compost just 20 percent of our waste \u2014 the rest ends up in the landfill. To give you some perspective, both the state and the national diversion rates are 35 percent. Because of this gap \u2014 and the fact that landfills have limited space \u2014 the Summit County community created a goal to reach 40 percent diversion by 2035. In short, we\u2019ve all got work to do!<\/p>\n

Thankfully, dedicated community members and the voters already did some heavy lifting. I\u2019m talking about the Strong Future Initiative. Passed in November 2018, the ballot measure provides $1.7 million annually, for 10 years, to fund new and existing recycling programs. It\u2019s the reason we still have recycling programs in a time when many communities have scaled back or eliminated recycling. It\u2019s also the reason we have no-fee carton, mattress, food scrap and now, glass station recycling.<\/p>\n

Of all the different recyclables to target with neighborhood recycling stations, glass made the most sense because it\u2019s not accepted in single stream, and it has huge potential to increase our diversion rate. Diversion is measured in weight, and glass is heavy.<\/p>\n

The new glass stations couldn\u2019t have come sooner. According to a study done at the Summit County landfill this summer, we\u2019re still throwing away a lot of glass, and we\u2019re also putting glass in single stream, where it ultimately ends up as trash. In addition to the seven new stations, existing stations are already available in Breckenridge and at Whole Foods in Frisco. More are expected to pop up later this year.<\/p>\n

New glass recycling stations<\/strong><\/h4>\n