Lately, there has been discussion about glass recycling which seems to have led to some confusion.

Let’s attempt to clarify the situation. Glass is currently accepted in both Hancock and Houghton curbside recycling and at the Houghton County Transfer Station on Wednesdays. Waste Management hauls the recycling to a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in Marquette, where the recycling is sorted. At the end of the sorting process, the glass, broken and contaminated with other materials, is currently being landfilled and is not recycled. Unlike other recycled materials, the markets for recycling glass are too far away and transport of glass which is heavy makes it not economically feasible. According to the EPA, glass makes up just over 4% of the recycling stream, and less in Michigan because of the Bottle Bill and the 10-cent deposit placed on many glass products.

So, Copper Country Recycling Initiative suggests options for disposing of your glass?

1. Some are choosing to divert their glass and either save it for some future disposition or take it to Wisconsin, Minnesota, or downstate where it can be recycled and turned back into new glass products.

2. In Marquette County, glass is collected separately from other recycling and is crushed and reused as a sand product (It is not possible to do this with glass collected in single stream recycling in Houghton County). Glass can be dropped off at Recycle 906, the Marquette County MRF which is located at 600 County Road NP, off County Road 480 in Sands Township, open 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.

3. Glass can be landfilled. It is inert and does not break down or produce greenhouse gases.

4. Continue to place glass in local single stream recycling in hopes that future options open for recycling glass from the Marquette MRF. Unfortunately, this option does increase costs in the short term on an already strained recycling system.

Certainly option 1 and 2 should ONLY be considered if you are already making a trip to these areas. Making a separate trip would cause more environmental harm in the form of greenhouse gases from their transport than simply landfilling them which doesn’t have a large environmental impact.

What does the future of glass recycling look like in the UP? MI EGLE recently announced the launch of Part 115, a comprehensive revision of programs for managing the materials we discard. Regional planning is beginning and hopefully new options for reusing and recycling glass are included in these updated plans.

MTU is testing using recycled tires and glass in asphalt for roads which could one day prove a reuse for those materials locally. In the meantime, if you are concerned, the most impact that can be made to the waste stream right now is to divert organic waste.

Thirty to 40% of what we throw away is organic waste, with the majority of that being food waste. It causes greenhouse gases as it breaks down in the landfill and, if diverted, as compost eventually becomes dirt. Start a backyard or neighborhood compost pile. Make a difference now.