By Pepper Fisher
SEQUIM — When the City of Port Angeles announced last month they would no longer be recycling glass and customers should put their glass in with the rest of their garbage for pick-up, it caused some confusion as to whether any glass in Clallam County was being recycled.
The answer, says Waste Connections local Vice President Matt O’Connell, is yes. If you are still a Waste Connections customer in Clallam County outside the City of Port Angeles, your glass will be recycled.
“You know, there was some confusion out there. We we’re…not only us, but the City of Sequim, was getting a lot of calls. And so we just wanted to clear it up. You know, we’re able to take it. We have a good place to recycle it and it never stopped. We’ve been doing it, and will continue to do it into the future.”
Port Angeles Public Works Director Thomas Hunter has explained the city is unable to establish an agreement right now to get glass recycling re-engaged. He says there are a number of reasons, including shipping and handling of getting the glass to an off-peninsula facility. (read a previous story from last month here).
Waste Connections says its customers, particularly in Sequim, can drop off glass at two locations in town. There are glass drop-off sites at Hemlock and 2nd Avenue and at Evergreen Collision on East Washington Street.
Where does it go after that? Waste Connections hauls it to Concrete Recyclers in Tumwater. There, the glass is crushed and used as a replacement for sand and pea gravel for a host of construction applications.
“It really does make a good pipe base, road base, base for foundations. It drains really well, and it’s available. Right? I mean, and you don’t have to go blast more rock or do anything like that. But it does work well.”
O’Connell says there’s no law that prevents customers who live outside of Sequim city limits from taking their glass to the Sequim drop-off sites, he cautions that the large boxes could get overwhelmed.
Meanwhile, county and Port Angeles customers will have to wait until the City of Port Angeles has worked out a contract of their own with a company that recycles glass. That, we’re told, is in the works.