Residents are now encouraged to separate their glass from other recyclables as part of a new effort to reduce contamination, save money and make recycling safer and more effective. Under the new pilot program, residents can voluntarily take their glass recyclables out of the single-stream recycling and instead bring it to a special bin at the town’s transfer station at Richard White Way, where it has a better chance of actually being recycled, according to the Sustainable Fairfield Task Force. The program was designed by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
“We hope that a good number of town residents will consider taking part in the program and help make the town recycling effort even more cost efficient – while also helping to ensure that even more of our recyclable glass actually has a useful next life,” said Becky Bunnell, a task force member.
Bunnell has been working with Fairfield’s Solid Waste and Recycling Commission and Solid Waste and Recycling Department to start the program. The program launched on Jan. 13 with the arrival of the new glass-only recycling bin at the transfer station. Since then, about 15 people have used it, John Cottell, assistant director of the public works department.