Akron residents who've been asked to avoid mixing glass jars and bottles in with other items collected for the city's curbside recycling program can soon explore a new avenue to cut down on waste.

After weeks of gathering community input via online survey, the city is preparing to set up centralized recycling drop-off centers for glass recyclables. The program would begin with between five and seven drop-off locations, with the idea to eventually expand the number of locations to one in each ward.

It's an idea that officials believe could save Akron hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Emily Collins, strategic advisor to Mayor Dan Horrigan, said more than 1,000 residents have responded to the survey since it went live in early March. The city continues to invite responses, she said, while it finalizes details of the pilot program. Trial and error will help Akron to discern best drop-off locations, she said.

"We would really need to see how people are utilizing each (drop-off recycling location); we want to collect as many glass recyclables as we can, and we want to do it in a way that as many residents as possible can access these sites," Collins said. "Right now, we are basing our locations on interest, but that's probably not the best long-term solution.

"Mostly, we are really interested in making sure that we are locating the drop-off recycling large bins equitably, and we want to make sure people have access to them. And surveys have shown us that people are worried about the distance to drop off."

She said the glass recycling program likely will begin in early summer. Residents will be notified about the option via an insert included with their water bill. The information also will be posted on the Akron Recycles app (available for free through the Apple and Google Play app stores), signage on the actual bins and the city's social media pages.

Akron's current glass recycling practices

Currently, Akron offers single-stream recycling, meaning residents can combine all of their recyclables together. While recycling glass via curbside bin isn't strictly prohibited, residents have been strongly discouraged from including glass with the rest of their recyclables.

"We've asked people to make decisions about what they're including, knowing that it is quite the burden to include glass," Collins said. "Most of (the glass) is costing the city double the amount of other recyclables, partly because of weight, and partly because of residue or contamination. I just want to be clear that we haven't banned (glass recyclables) from single-stream recycling."

Collins said the city began to discourage glass recycling beginning in November 2018, once China began to shut down its imports of glass recyclables.

Councilwoman Nancy Holland explains pitfalls of single-stream glass recycling

Ward 1 Councilwoman Nancy Holland is particularly interested in the creation of the glass recycling program, citing sustainability issues with including glass recyclables in single-stream recycling.

"It's been a struggle recycling glass in a sustainable way; while there are currently no penalties with including glass in curbside single-stream recycling, it just doesn't make economic or financial sense for the city not to have a specific avenue for recycling glass," said Holland.

"I know residents of Ward 1 have been wanting to get glass recycling back on track, and using drop-off locations simplifies transporting glass to a centralized location and making sure it ends up with a glass manufacturer and upcycled," said Holland.

Holland said residents in her ward have expressed concerns about the environmental impact of throwing glass into single-stream recycling bins. Oftentimes, these glass bottles break upon transportation from residents' homes to city facilities, and loads containing contaminated glass make it difficult for workers to sort.

If recycling loads contain too much contaminated glass, the entire load is thrown into a landfill.

"We need a dedicated system for glass recycling, I know residents are concerned that they are recycling glass that never actually gets to a glass manufacturer and is instead dumped in a landfill and never recycled," said Holland.

Akron seeks path that cuts cost of glass recycling

The drop-off locations would provide the city an avenue to avoid incurring huge costs for processing recycling loads contaminated by glass recyclables. Single-stream recycling currently costs the city $22 per ton, but if over 20% of the recycling load is contaminated by glass shards, costs run up to $80 per ton for the contaminated load.

"Essentially, the drop-off locations would allow the city glass recycling that is not contaminated and more pure, so to speak. And these locations would save the city tons of money since we would avoid paying extra for the contaminated glass," Collins said.