Curbside recycling to cut out glass

Knoxville will no longer accept glass in its glass in its curbside single-stream recycling program beginning Jan. 1.

Instead, residents are encouraged to bring glass to any of the City’s five drop-off recycling centers.

“Many communities across the country have reached the same conclusion – that placing glass in single stream, with other recyclable materials like plastic, paper and aluminum, is not the best way to recycle glass,” said Rachel Butzler, the City’s Solid Waste Manager. “It’s unfortunate, because curbside pickup is so convenient. But because the glass gets broken and commingled, its value is eroded and it has no market. As a result, much of the glass that’s intended for recycling winds up going to the landfill – which is absolutely the last thing that our enthusiastic residential recyclers want.”

Here’s a link to more information and locations of City of Knoxville, Knox County and University of Tennessee recycling drop-off centers: http://bit.ly/2hceNFE

The city is gathering input from residents about ways to improve the operation of the drop-off centers – including the possibility of adding new locations to make it easier for residents to recycle glass. To take part in a survey, please click on this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BFXV2Q2.