Tacoma will stop curbside glass pickup starting Monday. Here’s how you can recycle it
Starting Monday, Tacoma residents living in single-family homes or duplexes shouldn’t leave glass recycling by the curb.
No one will be coming to pick it up.
The city is instead opening satellite drop-off sites across Tacoma for residents to recycle glass materials.
Glass and household batteries can be dropped off between 7:30 a.m. and 9 p.m. Monday through Sunday at the following locations starting Jan. 4:
Central Co-op, 4502 N. Pearl St.
Center at Norpoint, 4818 Nassau Ave. NE
Stewart Heights Park, 5715 Reginald Gutierrez Lane
Glass, household batteries, scrap metal and cardboard can also be dropped off between 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Tacoma Recycle Center, 3510 S. Mullen St.
The city is looking to add more drop-off locations in the future.
Customers will not see any changes to their bills on Jan. 4. A surcharge of $2.82 was already implemented in January 2020 for all residential solid waste customers as part of Recycle Reset, a program launched in 2019 after the city analyzed its recycling processes in response to China changing which materials from the U.S. it would accept.
During the process of evaluating its recycling services, the city discovered only 25 percent of its customers were setting out glass for pick up.
“Our curbside glass program came up as one of the most inefficient and not safe aspects of our operation,” said Preston Peck, Recycle Reset project lead for the city.
The city decided a change was in order.
“By changing this program to glass recycling drop-off locations, it will have environmental benefits by not sending out multiple trucks every day for pick up, economically this shift will save the city about half a million dollars per year, and finally, this change helps eliminate on-the-job safety hazards for staff related to glass recycling pick up,” Peck said.
To use the locations, customers simply drive up and park in one of the 15-minute available parking spots on site and transfer their glass recyclables to the containers. You can’t miss them — they’re big and purple and wrapped in art from local artists.
Peck said customers do not need to sort the glass prior to dropping off, but encourages cleaning and drying the glass beforehand. He also wants to deter people from bringing in light bulbs, broken materials and objects that may appear to be glass but are actually ceramic, like dishes.
“We’re really looking for bottles, jars — those kinds of things,” Peck said.
When asked about residents who may be unable to drive to the drop-off locations, Peck said that staff had lengthy discussions about the issue but determined that the city lacked the resources to go pick up glass from individual homes. He added that some residents are looking to self-organize neighborhood pickups.
“All of the locations are along bus routes,” Peck said. “That being said, I do understand it may not be practical or feasible for someone to get on public transit with a load of glass, just to go drop it off.”
Peck said he also understands that some residents may prefer not to use the drop-off locations. The city is expecting an increase of glass in its garbage intake.
“In our analysis we felt like that was okay, just given that glass is an inert product — it’s naturally derived, so it’s not gonna be leaching any toxic chemicals,” Peck said.
All customers to the glass drop-off sites are asked to observe COVID-19 guidelines by wearing face masks and maintaining social distancing, according to the city.
