Erie County Public-Private Partnership

Total Population: 270,000 • Households: 121,000
Collection Type: Glass-only Drop off Program

Problem

Erie County, Pennsylvania, is home to  270,000 residents who rely on several different contracted haulers to collect recyclables. With four glass container manufacturing facilities and a glass processor within 160 miles of the County, glass recycling had a robust loop from collection to recycling to re-manufacturing. However, in 2016, many contracted haulers ceased commercial glass collection and eventually residential glass collection in 2018 and 2019. After these announcements, Erie County residents were left with little choice to recycle their glass bottles and jars. They either had to stockpile them for periodic pop-up collection events or discarded them into their trash cans. The disappearance of collection options left a gap in the regional glass recycling system.  

Solution

To close the gap, Prism Glass Recycling, a startup from the Erie Management Group, catalyzed a public-private partnership between the Erie County Recycling Program, the Erie Area Council of Governments, CAP Glass Recycling, and the Glass Recycling Foundation. The collaborative effort led to the Erie County Glass Recycling Municipal Drop-off pilot program. The program, launched in 2021, providing free glass drop-off service to residents and businesses locations throughout the County. The partners each contributed different services for the program. Local government groups facilitated public awareness and education campaigns. Prism Glass Recycling provided for local hauling from the drop-off locations, CAP Glass Recycling provided centralized hauling and glass processing, and the Glass Recycling Foundation provided a grant match for the contamination monitoring equipment.

Milestones

With all the pieces in place, the pilot program started in late January of 2021. The program started with 15 locations. Within a couple hours of opening, residents started dropping off their empty pickle jars and wine bottles they had been stockpiling. Over 136 tons of glass were collected during the six-month pilot. The tonnage collected increased most months with a 22% increase during the last month of the pilot. Residents were excited and motivated to recycle instead of landfill their glass containers.

Building on the pilot's success, the partners continued providing the drop-off collection service, adding four more locations based on municipalities and resident demand. In the first year,  400 tons were collected from the 19 sites. The busiest site collected 4,000 lbs of glass every 10-14 days. Recycled glass from Erie County residents offsets over 50 tons of carbon dioxide when turned into new glass containers as compared to using virgin glass.

Lessons Learned and Recommendations

Starting the pilot program in winter had created difficulties like picking up full glass bins during snowstorms. A frigid January kick-off allowed the team to capitalize on the glass leftover from the holidays and ready the programs before the NFL Superbowl, a large glass-generating day. The COVID-19 pandemic also presented challenges to the newly established drop-off locations. However, the disruption to daily routines might have also boosted collection at the drop-offs as residents became increasingly aware of their waste generation at home.    

Data was a key piece to understanding which sites were doing well and which should be relocated. Prism also kept an eye on contamination. While instances of contamination were relatively low. Plastic bags were a common contaminate. The need for ongoing education is critical.

The results show that strong partnerships and collaboration boosted by seed investment can make a significant difference in closing the recycling loop. 

Next Steps

After seeing a successful glass collection in 2021, Prism Glass Recycling and partners plan to keep the glass drop-offs in Erie County open to residents. The team is working to assess lower-performing sites and hoping to optimize them through education and location options. The program will continue to offer free or low-cost glass collection for Erie County residents.