The City of Tuscaloosa is now accepting glass for recycling at their drop-off site at the Environmental Services Department at 3440 Kauloosa Avenue.

The Environmental Services Department needs to collect 11,000 pounds of glass to begin using its new glass pulverizer. The pulverizer, awarded as part of a 2014 grant from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, is awaiting its final installation process. Once operational, the machine will tumble and crush recyclable glass containers into glass mulch or sand that can be used in a number of industrial and decorative applications.

Glass bottles and jars can be recycled at the Environmental Services Department’s 24-hour recycling area. Containers must be separated by glass color. Lids, corks and labels can be left on, but the containers themselves must be empty and relatively clean.

Household glass bottles and jars will be accepted at drop-off, but no auto glass, plate glass, mirrors, window glass or glass medical supplies will be accepted.

Glass will not be collected in the City’s blue curbside recycling bins or drop-off recycling trailers due to safety and environmental hazards presented by broken glass.

In the coming months, glass-only drop-off trailers will be placed around the City and Tuscaloosa County to make glass recycling more accessible to the almost 200,000 citizens in our area. Locations for the glass-only trailers will be announced later.

For more information about recycling programs in Tuscaloosa, call Tuscaloosa 311 at 205-248-5311 or visit the Environmental Services Department website at www.tuscaloosa.com/recycle.

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