Fort Smith glass recycling pilot program not expected to continue

Fort Smith’s residential glass pilot program started in 2024 is not likely to continue. The Fort Smith Board of Directors in May 2024 approved a glass recycling program for Fort Smith residents who want it for a $7 per month charge.

The sanitation department received funding from the Sebastian County Regional Solid Waste Management District (SCRSWMD) for the purchase of 110 specialized recycling carts.

The program, which began July 1, 2024, operates to evaluate community interest and the feasibility of glass recycling under operational capacities using existing staff and vehicles. Originally approved as a six-month trial period, the program had 62 households signed up at the end of the summer.

“The glass recycling program that began last year was extended at the end of the year so that I would have time to evaluate and learn from it,” said Duane McDonald, who began Feb. 3 as the Fort Smith director of solid waste services.

There are 87 Fort Smith households signed up for glass recycling, which is short of the original expectation of 100 plus. On average, about 725 pounds of residential glass, mostly wine, beer, and soft drink bottles, is collected and recycled each month by the program, McDonald said.

Participation in the program is voluntary, with residents signing up for the program. Each participating resident is provided with a 100-liter recycling cart with a purple lid clearly labeled “Glass Only.” The department asks that when carts are about two-thirds filled, customers call sanitation or place a request on the glass recycling website. Then customers are asked to put the container outside by 7 a.m. the next Wednesday.

“Since the program is small, Education Coordinator James Batura has been collecting the glass with a pickup truck, and our partners at the Sebastian County Regional Solid Waste Management District have been transporting it to the glass plant with glass from their drop-off program,” McDonald said.

Because the charge is only $7 a month for a household to have their glass collected, the experimental program hasn’t cost the city anything to try.

“But we don’t get paid for the glass, so it doesn’t generate much revenue either,” McDonald said. “That’s the nature of glass; it’s made of common, inexpensive materials, mainly quartz, sand, and lime, which makes the economics of recycling glass challenging where it’s not subsidized by a bottle deposit.”

The amount of glass collected in the pilot program has not been enough to save significant space in or extend the life of the city’s landfill, he said. He believes the department has learned most of what it can learn from the pilot program and are not likely to extend it again.

“We will continue to consider ways in which more waste materials can be reused or recycled and reduce the amount of Fort Smith’s trash disposed of in the city landfill to conserve the capacity and maximize the value of that resource to the city,” McDonald said.

Glass is 100% recyclable and can be recycled endlessly without loss in quality or purity.