July 30, 2020 Update: Baltimore County today announced the Department of Public Works, Bureau of Solid Waste Management has started a new glass recycling program in partnership with Cap Glass, Inc. of Connellsville, Pennsylvania.
Under the new 10-year agreement, the County will deliver glass from the Cockeysville Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) to the Cap Glass facility in Baltimore City. Cap Glass will process the glass to remove contaminants (such as paper and other items) and recover marketable glass. The marketable glass will be sent to OI Glass, Inc. to make new glass containers. Read more.
1-30-2020: Baltimore County acknowledged today that since 2013 it has not been recycling the glass it collects from residents. That was the year its new $23 million single stream Materials Recovery Facility opened in Cockeysville. Because the county, like many municipalities in the state and country, switched to single-stream recycling — in which glass, paper, and other materials don’t need to be collected separately — county officials have not found an economical way to remove the paper from the glass at the sorting facility. (Removing the glass from the paper, they say, has been successful and they have been pleased with the quality of the paper material that has been produced by the facility.)
The glass is not being saved, the county said. It is being thrown out.
The Department of Public Works said it wants residents to keep recycling their glass containers for now, because they fear if people stop recycling glass it will be difficult to encourage glass recycling again later. The department said it hopes to find a way to economically recycle glass sometime this spring.
“Baltimore County, like most jurisdictions across the state—and across the country—cannot currently recycle glass at municipal facilities due to technical and financial limitations,” said county spokesman Sean Naron. “Baltimore County is currently in preliminary discussions with an independent entity to process the County’s glass for recycling. The County Executive has and will continue to make efforts to promote environmental sustainability, including hiring forming Delegate Steve Lafferty as Baltimore County’s first Chief Sustainability Officer, a priority.”
Related links:
The Era of Easy Recycling May Be Coming to an End
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Baltimore County opens $23M recycling facility in Cockeysville
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Residential Recycling Collection Information
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Steve Lafferty will serve as Chief Sustainability Officer
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