ROELAND PARK, Kan — Roeland Park is now the first city in the Kansas City area to enter a city-wide contract with Ripple Glass.
The glass recycling service kicked off the first week of January with 2,900 homes in Roeland Park taking part. As of Wednesday, three tons of glass have been collected.
"We ran a six-month pilot program at the end of 2021 and 2022, just to see what the setup rate would be and how much weight we would get from the drop-offs,” said Piercyn Charbonneau, commercial program coordinator for Ripple Glass. "We ended up at about a 44% set out rate, which is really good and what we needed to see."
During the pilot period, Ripple Glass says they collected 22,000 pounds of glass from nearly 700 homes.
"I do it just because I think it's being responsible,” said Roeland Park resident Michelle Daugharthy. "We're here to take care of each other and the Earth, and this is one way to do that.”
The program was funded partly through a grant from The Recycling Partnership, and the rest is reflected on this year's Solid Waste Service Assessment which is part of a resident's property tax bill.
Keith Moody, city administrator with Roeland Park, reports it's about $2.50 per household a month, with 2023 residents currently paying $0.76 cents a month.
"Roeland Park is a really climate-forward community with great leaders and great residents,” Charbonneau said. "We really thought it'd be the perfect demographic for us to start with, and it proved to be the perfect place to start."
It is estimated 275-400 additional tons of glass will be collected through the tenure of the three-year contract with Roeland Park.
Find schedules and items accepted through the program here.
