Recycling bottles, jars and the like hasn’t been the easiest of pursuits since most waste haulers stopped picking up such items a few years ago.
In Oakmont, the process has become more convenient thanks to the presence of a spacious new bin in the Second Avenue parking lot at Riverside Park.
“The residents and council have been asking for a permanent glass recycling dumpster because, prior to getting the dumpster, we had collection events every four months,” assistant borough manager Phyllis Anderson said. “But people had a lot of glass that they were storing.”
Now, environmentally conscious folks who live in Oakmont and neighboring Verona can drop it off any time between dawn and dusk, thanks to sponsorship by both boroughs and a state Department of Environmental Protection grant.
Anderson has been leading her borough’s efforts toward more sustainable practices, which also have included the installation of charging stations for electric vehicles and, as of March 16, a new Ford-150 Lighting electric pickup truck for the street department. Oh, and goats visited last summer, and are returning this year, to help clear out unwanted vegetation by natural means.
Placement of the Oakmont bin is through the Glass Recycling Collaborative of Southwestern Pennsylvania, a partnership between municipalities in Allegheny County and the Pennsylvania Resources Council. Items collected will be hauled by Baldwin Borough business Michael Brothers to CAP Glass in Mt. Pleasant.
Officials from Verona and Oakmont joined representatives of the PRC and Michael Brothers to participate in a ceremonial ribbon cutting for the bin amid raindrops on March 17. Some of those in attendance started adding to the first dumpster full of glass.
For those who plan to follow suit, Containers should be empty and rinsed, with lids and labels intact. Bags and boxes used to deliver glass must be discarded off site.
More information about glass recycling is available at www.prc.org/glass.
