Resident proposes glass recycling program for Upper St. Clair
When Upper St. Clair resident John Despines learned that the township’s recycling contractor, Waste Management, would no longer accept glass for curbside recycling next year, he decided to find a way to enable township residents to continue to recycle glass.
Despines presented his proposal to the Upper St. Clair commissioners during their Nov. 26 agenda meeting, suggesting that a glass recycling program could be held at the Community & Recreation Center at Boyce Mayview Park on the third Saturday of each month, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
Despines would like to see the program to recycle food and beverage grade household glass starting in March, with subsequent collections in May, July, September, November and December. He told the board that he has found a company that would deliver a drop box on Friday and pull it on Monday.
With a good network of community-based volunteers who would help with the recycling effort, Despines envisioned about 10 people working each event, greeting cars and placing the glass into the dumpster. Volunteers would wear safety vests and gloves, and goggles would be worn by whoever would be dumping glass.
Despines estimated the cost of the program to be about $2,400, which would cover the cost of the safety equipment, traffic cones and dumpsters. He plans to have a tip jar on site during each recycling event.
Commissioner Daniel Paoly was concerned about policing the area during the hours when the dumpster was unmanned, while Commissioner Robert Orchowski had concerns about broken glass in the collection area. Orchowski also questioned Despines about what would happen if more glass was collected than would fit in the dumpster.
Despines said he was not sure what would be done if there were overages and admitted that there would most likely be a learning curve about how large a dumpster would be needed.
“At the end of the day, it will be spotless.” Despines said, adding he would report back to the board after each event.
Board vice president Nicholas Seitanakis said Despines presented an “exciting proposal” and asked him to work with township manager Matthew Serakowski to determine if this was something the municipality would be able to do.
In other business, the board is expected to adopt the township’s 2019 proposed budget at its Dec. 3 regular meeting. The $22 million general fund budget holds the real estate tax rate at 3.83 mills and the earned income tax rate to 0.80 percent.
At the same meeting, the board is also expected to vote on conditional use approval for Crossroads United Methodist Church at 1120 Boyce Road, amended tentative and final approval of Boyce Plaza Complex planned office and hospital center at 2575 Boyce Plaza Road, and an amendment to Chapter 99 of the Township Code Public and Private Improvements to update the requirements for stormwater management.