We found out that Tompkins County does not recycle glass to the true sense of the word in September 2021 when we sent an inquiry to the county’s Recycling and Materials Management about where our trash are going.
Since then, we are trying to bring real glass recycling by cooperating with a company called TOMRA, and modeling on a similar program started by the volunteers of Zero Waste Capital District at Honest Weight Co-op in Albany, New York.
We gathered 64 signatures from member-owners of our local Greenstar Co-op and started the process to ask its management and Council to accept our glass recycling proposal since December 2021.
We attended three meetings and did one presentation and are still waiting to hear from Greenstar as of March 20, 2022.
Regardless of the outcome, we plan on posting the trajectory of our works here on this issue and will add resources about glass recycling and why glass should not be going to landfills as “beneficial cover” or for road materials.
Zero Waste Ithaca 