Glass collected at the City of Akron's facility on Triplett Boulevard.
Glass collected at the City of Akron's facility on Triplett Boulevard waits to be hauled to O-I, an Ohio-based company, for processing and reuse. (Photo courtesy of the City of Akron)

Akron is changing locations for some of its drop-off bins used for glass recycling and adding a sixth bin.

The new locations are: 

  • Kenmore Community Center overflow lot, 880 Kenmore Blvd.
  • Joy Park Community Center, 825 Fuller St.
  • Firestone Metro Park Little Turtle Pond lot, 2620 Harrington Road

The locations that will continue to operate are:  

  • Akron’s Dog Park, 499 Memorial Parkway
  • Goodyear Heights Metro Park, 1950 Eastwood Ave.
  • J. E. Good Park Golf Course, 530 Nome Ave.

Akron is removing the bins that were located at: 

  • Diamond Crystal Ballfield, 2175 Edwin Ave.
  • Behind Spaghetti Warehouse, 510 S. Main St.

The city has collected 80 tons of glass in the first year of the drop-off program, according to a news release from Akron Mayor Shammas Malik.

Recycling glass used to cost the city money: 80 tons from the last year would have cost $3,600 to take to a landfill or $1,760 if it was processed at the Materials Recovery Facility.

Instead, the city made $1,600 by sending the glass to O-I, an Ohio-based company, for processing and reuse.

“Separating glass recycling from the curbside bin reduces broken glass contamination from the single-stream curbside program,” Malik said, “and also enables us to more successfully recycle the glass itself.”

The city ended curbside recycling of glass toward the end of 2018. Now, residents are encouraged to use the city’s drop-off locations.

Tips for recycling glass in the City of Akron.
Tips for recycling glass in the City of Akron.

Tips for recycling glass in Akron: 

  • Gather your glass jars and bottles – no need to remove labels.
  • Wash them out and remove any caps or corks.
  • Find the nearest City of Akron bin by using this map.
  • Drop your glass in the bin.

The following items are acceptable for glass recycling:

  • Glass food jars
  • Spirit and wine, beer, and champagne bottles
  • Non-alcoholic beverage glass bottles

The following items are not acceptable for glass recycling:

  • Windows
  • Mirrors
  • Light bulbs
  • Solar panels
  • Heat-resistant glass (e.g., Pyrex)
  • Drinking glasses
  • Computer/TV screens
  • Ceramics
  • Vases

Editor-in-Chief (she/her)
Zake has deep roots in Northeast Ohio journalism. She was the managing editor for multimedia and special projects at the Akron Beacon Journal, where she began work as a staff photographer in 1986. Over a 20-year career, Zake worked in a variety of roles across departments that all help inform her current role as Signal Akron's editor in chief. Most recently, she was a journalism professor and student media adviser at Kent State University, where she worked with the next generation of journalists to understand public policy, environmental reporting, data and solutions reporting. Among her accomplishments was the launch of the Kent State NewsLab, an experiential and collaborative news commons that connects student reporters with outside professional partners.