Glass will no longer be accepted for recycling in Greene County effective Sept. 1. Glass will not be accepted at the drop box or curbside locations.
The Greene County Recycling Agency explains that it has been difficult to find an end user for recycling glass for the past several years. Because of the amount of contamination that comes in residential glass recovery streams, the large glass mills have not purchased glass from Genesis in 10 years.
The agency has disposed of the recycled glass through a company that ground it and added it to asphalt for road paving. That market has closed, and the agency has not been able to find another user for glass.
The problem is not unique to Greene County or to Iowa. Many large metropolitan areas across the country have had to close their glass collection systems.
The Greene County Recycling Agency will continue to recycle plastic, tin, mixed paper and office paper, and corrugated cardboard.
