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GONE GLASS: Barrels of glass bottles from downtown bars head to the city’s Public Works compound before going to Kansas City for recycling.
GONE GLASS: Barrels of glass bottles from downtown bars head to the city’s Public Works compound before going to Kansas City for recycling.

Half Empty or Half Full?: Recycling efforts improving across Springfield

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City officials are dealing with a recycling gap.

They learned earlier this year nearly 3 out of 4 residents consider recycling important, but only half of them are actually participating, according to a commissioned study by Burns & McDonnell on the city’s trash hauling system.

Early signs point to the convenience factor – a lack thereof.

“Recycling in Springfield is not as good as it can be,” said city Environmental Services Director Steve Meyer.

That’s not to say recycling isn’t happening. Most is done at the city’s three recycling centers, at 731 W. Franklin St., 3020 W. Lone Pine Ave. and another near City Utilities’ Southwest Power Station.

Meyer said 6 million pounds of recyclables were collected at the centers last year alone.

“You can recycle just about everything,” he said. “They’re very well attended and used.”

From antifreeze to eyeglasses to office equipment, there is a place to recycle it in the city, according to the Guide to Recycling in Springfield pamphlet.

Old antifreeze is accepted at the city’s household collection center, Mister HotShine Lube Express, Kwik Kar Service and Repair, or R&B Tire Pros & Custom Wheels. Eyeglasses can be dropped off at LensCrafters, Missouri Council of the Blind Thrift Store, The Vision Clinic or Wal-Mart Supercenter. Get rid of old office equipment at Complete Electronics Recycling LLC or at Computer Recycling Center LLC.

The city’s commercial trash haulers allow some residents to utilize curbside collection services, too.

“They’re required by ordinance to offer it, but they can charge for it, too,” Meyer said.

With over 10 waste service companies in town, curbside recycling rates range from $3 to $8 per household each month, according to the city’s trash hauler study.

“We have some definite goals for recycling improvements,” Meyer added.

According to the study, consolidating collection services would increase the efficiency of haulers and decrease the rates. A cost analysis showed combining refuse and curbside collection could cost households less than $13 a month. Refuse-only collection services currently can cost up to $16 per month.

Better for businesses
For area businesses, recycling isn’t such a pain – at least when it comes to glass products. That’s due to the efforts of Ozarks Headwaters, which gathers massive volumes of glass bottles from restaurants, bars and other local businesses, that originally would have gone straight to a landfill.

In 2008, Springfield’s Urban Districts Alliance secured a grant from Ozarks Headwaters Recycling and Materials Management District to secure the initiative. Now overseen by the Downtown Springfield Association, Ozarks Headwaters has funded $150,000 to date. It has since collected over 3 million bottles at no charge to businesses, said Rusty Worley, executive director of the DSA, a downtown advocacy organization.

“We pick up the glass and deliver it to the Public Works compound,” Worley said. “Then Ripple Glass will come down from Kansas City on a monthly basis and pick it up from there.”

Ripple Glass was born out of Boulevard Brewing Co. when the brewery discovered multiple millions of bottles were ending up in landfills. After processing the glass in its Kansas City plant, Ripple Glass sells the recyclable bottles to a company that converts it into Fiberglas insulation.

The initiative in Springfield has around 40 business accounts, primarily located downtown and on Commercial Street, including Falstaff’s Local.

Falstaff’s owner Scott Morris said his pub would not be able to recycle the glass bottles without the help of the city’s partnership with Ripple Glass.

“Sometimes, I will have 50-gallon drums on Friday and Saturdays,” said Morris, who started working with the program three years ago when the bar first opened.

Other than that, Morris said, Falstaff’s is pretty resourceful.

“We carry out one bag of trash every night,” he said.

Award-winning recyclers
South of Springfield, the live entertainment capital of the world recycles 684 tons of recyclables a year. At about 1.5 million pounds, it’s considerably shy of the Queen City’s numbers, but Branson Environmental Specialist Mona Menezes said the program is growing its roots.

Last fall, the city of Branson received an Outstanding Recycling Collections System Award from the Missouri Recycling Center.

She said Springfield helped pave the way for Branson to join Ripple Glass’ network.

“By July, we will have recycled 1,000 tons in a little under five years. That’s around 4 million pounds,” Menezes said.

In addition to the city’s recycling centers, Greenway Recycling, Midwest Fibre Sales, Tantone Industries and Republic Services handle commercial recyclables.

Of course, Branson residents always can use their two recycling centers, too, Menezes said. The centers may soon be accompanied by a third.

“We’re looking into putting another center on the west side of Branson,” Menezes said. “We’re hoping it would help grow the volume of recyclables.”

In Springfield, the clock is ticking for city officials to develop improvements in recycling.

“The council gave us a two-year time frame for our trash collection study,” Meyer said.

Following the first presentation in April, the council requested time to review the report and directed staff to continue researching options for making recycling less of a hassle. At a later time, staff will return with more detailed information on what residents and haulers want.

“We hope we’ll know what improvements we need to make soon,” Meyer said.


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