PHOTOS: COURTESY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RESOURCES COUNCIL

Is your recycling bin overflowing with beer and wine bottles from your family’s Fourth of July celebration?

Starting Friday, Mt. Oliver Borough residents can take those glass bottles or other jars and jugs to a permanent recycling station in Mt. Oliver’s Community Garden parking lot at Transverse Park as part of the region-wide glass recycling network.

The station was made possible through a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, held by Dormont Borough. The program is sponsored by Mt. Oliver Borough. Program partners are CAP Glass in Connellsville and Michael Brothers Hauling & Recycling in Bethel Park.

Why recycle glass?

According to information provided by The Pennsylvania Resources Council, glass is being removed as an “acceptable” material in single-stream residential curbside recycling programs throughout Western Pennsylvania and across the nation.

Why is drop-off collection better?

Drop-off glass collection programs have proven to yield significant volumes of high quality materials to the glass recycling industry. Drop-off collections treat the discarded glass as a commodity and prevent the contamination inherent in single-stream collection systems.

Continuing to put glass in your curbside recycling bin when instructed not to may result in rejected loads at material recovery facilities or the glass may be used as landfill cover.

“Glass is still one of the most recyclable materials we generate in our homes, and the market for glass recycling is very strong,” Pennsylvania Resources Council Deputy Director Sarah Alessio Shea said in a press release. “When you take the time to use glass-only drop-off sites, 98% to 100% of the glass collected is recycled into new bottles and jars, while only an average of 60% to 70% of glass collected in curbside programs is able to be captured for recycling.”

Recycling glass also uses 70% less energy than raw materials, according to information provided by the Glass Recycling Collaborative of Southwestern PA, a partnership between municipalities in Allegheny County and the Pennsylvania Resources Council that provides reliable, uninterrupted glass recycling access.

The blue recycling bin in Mt. Oliver will be located in Transverse Park at the end of Giffin Avenue and available for self-serve drop off from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

Glass bottles, jars and jugs of all colors may be deposited in the blue bin and no sorting is required. The Pennsylvania Resources Council asks that all containers be empty and rinsed, with lids and labels still on. Bags and boxes used to deliver glass must be discarded off site.

All glass collected will be hauled by Michael Brothers to CAP Glass where it will be sorted and prepared for use by regional glass product manufacturers. A bottle, jar or jug dropped in the bin can be recycled and back on a store shelf in less than 30 days.

The Mt. Oliver glass recycling station is the latest addition to the glass recycling collaborative in the region.

Other glass recycling locations include:

• McCandless — McCandless Town Hall parking lot, 9955 Grubbs Road, Wexford
• Moon — Public Works Garage lot, 1115 Stevenson Mill Road, Moon
• Riverside Park  in Oakmont — 32 Ann St., Oakmont
• Village Square Mall — Parking lot of Fine Wine and Spirits, 5000 Oxford Drive, Bethel Park

The Pennsylvania Resources Council also operates a Traveling Glass Bin program that visits various municipalities in the area. Visit the website to learn more about the Traveling Glass Bin and its schedule of stops.