Oyster Bay Town program provides glass dropoff locations for recycling

The Town of Oyster Bay is providing residents with a new way to recycle glass after the town stopped curbside collection of the material at the beginning of the year.

Through a 90-day pilot program, residents can leave their glass products in five containers set up throughout the town. A company will pick up and grind the glass down so it can be reused as sand or landscaping material, Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino said at a news conference Thursday. 

“The bottom line is, we hear the public’s cry that these products need to be recycled,” Saladino said. “We’re going to continue to find solutions to ensure that there is a way to recycle glass in the Town of Oyster Bay.”

E.W.G. Glass Recovery & Recycle Corp. of Jamaica, Queens, submitted the most competitive bid for the project, which will be voted on April 16, town spokesman Brian Nevin said.

Two containers — shaped like igloos and about 6 feet tall with an opening at the top so glass can be dumped inside — were placed in Massapequa at Town Hall South and John Burns Park. Another has been set up outside the town’s Department of Public Works facility in Syosset, one each at the Solid Waste Disposal Complex in Old Bethpage and Theodore Roosevelt Park in Oyster Bay.

After the pilot program ends, the town will evaluate it and may consider adding more drop-off locations.

The town launched the initiative after ending its single-stream recycling program, which allowed residents to combine paper, plastics, metals and glass for a weekly pickup.

Long Island’s recycling industry was rocked by China’s demand for higher quality recycling materials last year. As a result, Brookhaven and Smithtown also stopped their glass recycling programs. 

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation reported in a letter that towns halting glass pickup violated state law, which requires a detailed analysis before materials are dropped from recycling programs, Newsday previously reported.

The letter also states that “requiring drop-off locations for glass while providing curbside collection for disposed waste and other recyclables does not meet statutory requirements.” The agency has requested the towns to submit a market analysis or allow residents to “place glass in the same bins with plastic and metals,” the letter reads.

Oyster Bay Public Works Commissioner Richard Lenz said Thursday the town is working on its analysis to comply with state laws and guidelines.