Village of Homer officials are considering a pilot program to recycle glass containers, since village residents currently can’t include glass in their weekly recycling pickup.
Village deputy mayor Pat Clune noted a handful of residents are interested in a pilot program.
“I’ve gotten quite a bit of feedback from residents that are ready to do this,” he said. “We’ll see how it goes.”
Clune brought up the idea of a container or drop-off area for glass at the village’s department of public works (DPW). DPW would then potentially take the glass over to the Cortland County Recycling Center to their “glass section,” he added.
“It would be a great way to divert from the (county) landfill, which would reduce our overall weight and keep people in the habit of recycling,” Clune said.
DPW superintendent Phil Stockton agreed with the idea pitched by Clune. He noted his department could use pallets and boxes for the glass collection, and load it on to DPW trucks with a forklift.
“Or we could just dump (the glass) into the truck,” Stockton added.
Village mayor Hal McCabe said village officials will have to “figure out” how to implement a solid system for glass collection and drop-off to the county recycling center.
“(A system would) ensure they don’t spend all day loading glass to take to the landfill every week,” McCabe added.
This idea of a potential pilot program for recycling glass comes after the village enforced strict recycling guidelines. The guidelines were employed after the village faced a recurring recycling and garbage issue that caused them thousands of dollars in recycling fines and increased tipping fees.
Clune noted the recent awareness of residents in terms of recycling and “what not to put in (the recycling bins)” has seen contamination loads go “down a lot.”
“We have not been fined the last couple of weeks because of it,” Clune added. “To all of the residents, please keep up the awareness. It does make an impact. By that, it helps our taxes.”
A timeline of when this potential pilot program will be finalized and commence is to be determined.
