Alternative Surfaces As Some Residents Adjust To New Recycling Procedures

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Some municipal waste haulers no longer want to pick up glass throw-aways with curbside recyclables.

That has left the environmentally conscious searching for alternatives.

Some communities no longer allow residents to recycle their glass with other recyclables like plastic bottles, tin cans and cardboard.

"I think we're going back to the dark ages. I can't believe we can't recycle glass," said one Mt. Lebanon resident earlier this year.

But residents in many municipalities are now told to throw glass into our regular household trash.

That doesn't seem like a very environmental thing to do.

"No, and people really have a problem with it," said Stephanie Milani with Michael Brothers Hauling & Recycling. "That's why we started becoming a collection point for glass."

"We were getting calls daily not just from local residents, but also from community leaders asking if we could assist in any way," Milani told KDKA money editor Jon Delano on Monday.

Michael Brothers off Horning Road in Bethel Park is really into metals recycling like cans, copper and metal wires, just about anything metal for which they pay cash.

But now they take glass, says Milani.

"You can drive in, dump your pre-sorted glass and then we can ship it from there to a specially glass recycler."

Milani even said they take it for free.

"No charge for it," she said. "But if you bring me your metal, I'll pay you cash for it, so you might want to switch to beer cans instead of bottles."

Still, lots of things come in glass jars, so if you want to recycle it, don't wait for those special days.

Michael Brothers will take your glass for free on Wednesdays from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 7-11 a.m.

To recycle your glass, you pull into a garage that's covered over and toss your green glass, clear glass and brown glass into the designated bins. Then you get back into your car and go.