||| FROM KING5 NEWS |||
People in Skagit County will no longer be able to take their glass bottles to the transfer station for recycling, effective Tuesday, Oct. 1.
The new rule only applies to people who take their recycling directly to the transfer station — not for people who recycle curbside. That means people who usually take their glass to Skagit County transfer stations will now have to throw it away in the trash.
It is considered a regional issue that will likely affect people all across western Washington.
“We just don’t have any other options for recycling right now,” said Margo Gillaspy, solid waste division manager for Skagit County Public Works.
The situation fallout from the indefinite closure of the area’s main supplier of recycled glass, Ardagh Glass, in Seattle due to a lack of demand for recycled glass.
“There has been a decline in the demand for glass in beer and wine bottles,” said Gillaspy. “Maybe more people are drinking out of different containers. That was the main product that our recycled glass was being made into.”
Restricting recycling is not what those in charge of it want to do, but they say they have no choice — with Skagit County’s three transfer stations taking in just over 244 tons of glass in 2023.
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A few years ago on a trip to Canada, we happened to tour a major brewer. The first stop on the tour was that portion of the intake of bottles for cleaning, evaluation and refilling. Never knew that the beer bottles in Canada were made to be usable by any brewer, with an average of 20+ reuses per bottle before they were deemed to be not refillable. Maybe there’s a lesson there . . .