Sherri “Sam” Mason believes that recycling glass and food compost in the city of Erie could be an efficient, cost-effective and environmentally responsible process.
Mason and a group of student interns from Penn State-Behrend are sifting through hundreds of pounds of glass soda bottles, jelly jars, pizza boxes to takeout containers this summer to test that premise.
Mason, an associate research professor and director of sustainability at Behrend, is exploring whether the city should look to launch a separate collection/recycling effort for glass and food-related compost as part of its refuse operation.
Through late July, Mason and four student interns will be collecting glass and food compost in two west Erie neighborhoods as part of a study expected to be completed by the end of this year for a sustainability class that Mason teaches.
More than 100 households in the Frontier and west bayfront neighborhoods pre-registered and agreed to be part of the study after Mason knocked on doors in those neighborhoods looking for volunteers.
Mason, 49, said her study will examine the types and overall weight of recyclables she and the interns collect “to try and figure out what percentage of these things are part of the regular trash stream” for city residents.
Further, Mason’s study will try to estimate how much money a glass and food compost recycling program could save the city in tipping fees at Lake View Landfill in Summit Township.
Tipping fees are paid by anyone who disposes of waste at a landfill. City officials paid more than $1.3 million in tipping fees in 2021, according to Chuck Zysk, the city’s public works director.
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Mason and the students are picking up glass and food compost outside of residences that pre-registered. The items are then logged and weighed before they are hauled away by recycling companies.
They picked up roughly 771 pounds of materials — 442 pounds of glass and 330 pounds of compost — in the Frontier neighborhoods on Monday, their first collection day. Tuesday the Behrend team collected 649 pounds of recyclables in west bayfront neighborhoods, including 327 pounds of compost and 322 pounds of glass.
On average, 7.5 pounds of compost and 9 pounds of glass were collected from each household over the two days, according to Mason's collection data.
“The idea is to see how much of the recyclables people put out with their trash each week is glass, how much is food compost, and whether reducing the weight of those things would save the city money when it comes to tipping fees,” said Mason, who lives on Erie's west bayfront.
“I know it would cost money for the city to provide everyone with (recycling) bins and handle it this way,” Mason said. “But if we did, would it mean lower tipping fees, less trash in our streets or our waterways? Maybe it’s a way to offset some of the city’s upfront costs.”
Landis Crawford, 18, is one of the interns assisting Mason. The Saegertown-area resident is a sophomore biological engineering student and is the sixth generation of a Crawford County farming family.
"We compost and do a lot of recycling. Always have," Crawford said. "I always knew I wanted to work in the environmental field, but maybe not be a farmer. So this is my route. Anything that ties back into the earth and the soil is of interest to me. Implementing something like this in the city would be really cool."
Mason and the interns will collect recyclables from Frontier and West Bayfront neighborhoods through at least July 25.
Zysk called Mason’s research worthwhile. Currently, the city does not accept glass or any items contaminated by food, such as styrofoam.
Other items not accepted with regular trash are medical waste such as prescription drug bottles or the medication itself, chemical or household hazardous waste and large appliances.
However, both Mason and city officials know that glass and food compost ends up in the regular refuse stream because many residents simply dispose of those items with their household trash.
“I think this could be a win for the city. If you can recycle that glass and keep it out of the refuse stream, there is the potential to save some money. We haven’t had the opportunity in a while to do a cost-benefit analysis to see how much glass we could potentially recycle and whether there’s a potential savings associated with a glass recycling program. This could be a benefit.”
Guncheon is vice president of project management for Erie Management Group, which owns Prism Glass Recycling, a private company that has various recycling sites/drop-off boxes throughout Erie County.
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City drop box locations include the Boys & Girls Club on East Lake Road; along West Bayfront Parkway; and Glenwood Park.
Since February 2021, shortly after Prism Recycling launched, the company has collected more than 626 tons of glass countywide, including more than 78 tons from city of Erie sites/residents.
Guncheon said that Prism officials approached Erie City Council members and Mayor Joe Schember's administration in late 2021 "relative to getting heavy glass out of the waste stream and thereby reducing the overall weight."
Prism and Saegertown's Conservation Compost, as well as Erie County government's Planning Department, are affiliated with and supportive of Mason's research.
“There is a strong desire across our communities to recycle glass,” Guncheon said. “Curbside curbside recycling will allow ultimately for higher rates of participation.”
Erie City Councilman Chuck Nelson spoke about Mason’s research during council’s July 6 meeting.
Nelson said he supports the study because it will likely tell city officials “if it’s financially feasible to send out an extra truck on an extra route” to collect glass/food compost recyclables.
“Hopefully we can figure out how feasible it is to recycle glass curbside… And see if we can help reduce our refuse fees,” Nelson said. “I’m thrilled with it.”
Contact Kevin Flowers at kflowers@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ETNflowers.