Waco, Texas, brings back glass recycling bins

The city of Waco, Texas, in partnership with community organization Keep Waco Beautiful has brought back popular purple glass recycling bins—with a new look—KWTX reports.

Three months after the bins were removed, four new bins have been placed in locations across the city, according to the story. The purple glass recycling containers are free and available to anyone wishing to recycle beverage glass bottles and food glass jars. Glass bottles, jars and containers collected are transferred to Prestige Shredding and Recycling, where they are recycled, according to the Waco Department of Solid Waste and Recycling.

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The program was initially launched in partnership with Houston-based glass recycler Strategic Materials Inc., with containers provided by Perrysburg, Ohio-based glass manufacturer O-I Glass.

The Waco Department of Solid Waste and Recycling took an active role in bringing the bins back, Ashley Millerd, solid waste administrator at the Waco solid waste department, tells KWTX.

“We saw such promising numbers out of this program, people actually utilized it,” she says. “We had to bring it back, it wasn’t an option to just let it go.”

Carole Fergusson of Keep Waco Beautiful tells the station the program saw good results and leaders are hoping to keep the momentum going.

“We recycled more glass within six months than we did the entire year of 2022,” Fergusson says. “It’s a win-win for everybody—landfill is less full, which, down the road, costs us a lot of money and obviously a lot of emission. And then our residents are happy because they have the resources and accessibility to recycle.”