To Anthony Dolly, the nearly 10 tons of glass — on average — recovered monthly from Akron’s five glass recycling containers is a sign that the program is thriving.
Dolly, Akron’s interim public works bureau manager, said the program has proven so popular that residents from other communities have been using the big purple dumpsters to dispose of their glass.
“So, I don’t know what we really expected going into it,” he said, “but I think it’s been very well received by the public.”
Each container can hold between 1.5 to 2 tons of glass. The most popular dumpster, located at the dog park at 499 Memorial Parkway, is emptied of its 4- to 5-ton payload roughly every week and a half, Dolly said.
The others — located at Diamond Crystal Ballfield (2175 Edwin Ave.), behind Spaghetti Warehouse (510 S. Main), Goodyear Heights Metroparks (1950 Eastwood Ave.), and Goodpark Golf Course (530 Nome Ave.) — are emptied every couple weeks.
As part of the program, Akron has partnered with O-I, a glass packaging manufacturer that supplied the big purple recycling containers to the city. In turn, O-I has partnered with CAP Glass, which hauls the glass away from the city’s facility on Triplett Road, Dolly said in an email.