Ask Mr. Answer Person: "What's happening with glass recycling in Winneshiek County?"

Mr. Answer Person isn't sure why, but he's received several questions recently about the recycling of glass containers in Winneshiek County.  Nothing has changed about the way Winneshiek County handles the recycling of glass, but now would be a good time, apparently, to go over the operation again.

Glass containers are accepted only at the Winneshiek County Recycling Center in Freeport.  There's a bin in one of the storage sheds at the center where you can leave glass bottles.  This service has NOT been discontinued, despite rumors to the contrary.

County officials still emphasize that glass containers with an Iowa nickel deposit should be taken to local redemption centers.

The glass containers taken to the recycling center are crushed and taken to the landfill, where they are used as aggregate material in various places at the landfill, mostly around wells.

Recycling Coordinator Terry Buenzow says he'd love to haul the glass to a large glass recycling center, but there are several significant problems, the most serious being that the economics of glass recycling are terrible.  He estimates it would cost Winneshiek County $30,000 a year for the labor and other costs of sort glass bottles for recycling.

Communities around the country have been having a lot of difficulty finding a market for glass, since the commodity has gotten too cheap for its own good.

If you're concerned about the recycling of glass, here are some steps you can take: 1) Buy products that use other types of recyclable containers; 2) Make sure all glass beverage containers are redeemed; 3) As much as possible, wash out and reuse glass containers.