City leaders consider eliminating glass from recycling stream to cut costs

JACKSONVILLE, FLA — With curbside recycling coming back April 4, Jacksonville’s chief administrative officer warns locals to be patient as they wont be seeing a solution right away.

Brian Hughes says staffing is still an issue, and leaders still have to iron out the budget process -- issues he says have been ongoing for a couple years.

“We’ve seen an economic burden continue to grow on taxpayers in order to be recycling,” Hughes explained.

On the bright side, he says the suspension of curbside recycling gave haulers enough time to catch up.

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But now, the committee is looking at ways to cut costs.

“We have to be accountable to the taxpayers and make sure they understand in order to do recycling, there are real costs,” Hughes said.

According to Public Works, the city pays Republic Services $53.83 a ton to process recyclables. Glass is the heaviest to process, according to Hughes, and costs the city money that it’s not making up for in revenue raised by fees. City leaders are considering whether it’s worth it to recycle glass.

City leaders will discuss glass elimination in the coming committee meetings. The next meeting is scheduled for March 3 at 10:00 a.m. at City Hall.

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