Many garbage haulers now refuse to pick up glass items in recycling bins.

“This is nationwide. It's not one hauler. It's most haulers, if not all haulers,” said Sheryl Kelly, an environmental specialist and recycling and farmland coordinator for Butler County.

In a recent interview, Kelly said refusing glass items is not new, but has been slowly phasing its way into new trash collection contracts.

“I don't know anyone (who's) taking glass right now,” she said.

Kelly said the current market for recyclables has dropped because China is no longer buying many contaminated items, and has generally cut back on bringing in recyclables.

“China has always been the biggest purchaser of recyclables,” Kelly said.

About a year ago, China changed its standards on which recyclable items it would accept, according to Kelly. That prompted changes for municipal recycling programs.

No glass policy

Butler Township recently signed a four-year contract with Waste Management, which operates the Northwest Sanitary Landfill in West Sunbury.

Tom Knights, Butler Township manager, said the township's last hauler, Vogel Disposal Service of Mars, continued to pick up glass through the end of 2018 because it was included in the contract.

That contract's conclusion, he said, opened the door to change.

“If you compare the (current) four-year contract to the one we just had, (Waste Management) took more types of paper than the previous hauler did,” Knights said. “But all of the haulers that bid on our contract would not accept glass.”

Knights said Waste Management has distributed pamphlets informing residents about its services.

“It included a table of what different types of items were recyclable and what were not,” Knights said. The contract allows for the no-glass policy to change in the future, pending an evaluation of capabilities every six months, according to Knights.

Kelly said it will take time for processors to catch up to China's new standards.

“We're starting to look together to see if there's any way to solve this glass problem temporarily until things adjust themselves,” Kelly said.

The problem with glass

Ed Vogel, vice-president of Vogel Disposal, which includes TC Recycling of Mars, said glass is difficult to work with in recycling.

“It is destructive because it's abrasive on the equipment, and it can get in the paper,” Vogel said. “Contamination is a big issue.”

Vogel said glass easily contaminates and spreads contaminants to other recyclables.

“We've had a lot of issues with wishful recycling, where everybody throws everything in,” he said.

Vogel said glass isn't the only contaminant affecting recycling centers. He said plastic bags are actually enemy No. 1 for recycling plants.

“Plastic bags for all of our plants are a nightmare,” he said. “Please don't put plastic bags in (your recycling bins.)”

Vogel said in addition to glass, his company has also dropped many categories of plastics, including Nos. 3, 4, 6 and 7. He said the company still accepts 1s, 2s and 5s.

The type or category of a plastic product is denoted by a number within the triangular recycling symbol on it.

Vogel said the market isn't there for plastics, but it could always return, similar to how mixed paper is starting to come back.

Mixed paper (generally speaking, newspaper, office waste and cardboard) took a similar hit in the marketplace around the same time as glass, with both actually costing money for the recycling companies to sell, according to Vogel.

He said while mixed paper is not quite viable yet, it is trending positively as the overflow supply wanes.

“The markets continually change,” Vogel said. “It's a matter of supply and demand. It's been cyclical.”

But Vogel said he has little interest in the glass market, because the translucent item has never made his company money and has always served a niche purpose.

He said the company sorts the glass first to prevent contamination, then crushes the glass into square-inch pieces. The crushed glass serves as an alternative bedding for the landfill from which Vogel can collect and process methane gas into fuel for its specially designed garbage trucks.

Vogel said unfortunately the state government does not see this as recycling, which has caused problems for his company.

“If you're advertising to take it and recycle, then you have to attempt to recycle the glass,” he said.

Since landfill bedding isn't considered recycling, Vogel said he was forced to withdraw glass as a recyclable item, but he is also unconcerned if glass happens to end up in recycling bins.

“If glass still comes in, we'll remove it and use it as we always have,” Vogel said.

Industry upgrades

In addition to the alternative-fuel garbage trucks, Vogel said the processing plant continues to upgrade technology to reduce costs.

“The technology has come a long way,” Vogel said. “We have an optic sorter.”

An optic sorter uses cameras or lasers to sort products through an automated process.

Vogel said a lot of the advancements the companies make are not government-funded.

“There's no grant money or anything for us,” he said. “This is all out of pocket.”

Vogel said it will take time for a solution to be found for glass as processors make their own choices in new technology. He said his company has one way of doing things, but there is a lot of variety in directions recycling plants are taking.

“We just try to handle it a little bit differently,” he said.

Kelly said she hates the idea of throwing glass in the garbage. She said it just feels wrong.

“I know it's very upsetting to not be able to recycle these items,” she said. “It's just the way things are until we can reorganize everything.”

She said it will take time before glass finds its way back into the recycling stream.

“It's just something we're going to have to work our way through,” Kelly said.