Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
Marshall Cohen—researcher and producer, CNN
Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
"GARY GLASS"
"GARY GLASS." In 1991 when Dubuque became the first large city in Iowa to initiate curbside recycling, "Gary Glass" was the recycling mascot. He "attended" events as a yellow cartoon character pointing to his watch and saying,"It's time to recycle."
Recycling started with ten materials separated by crews at the curb. Clear, brown and green glass were collected in a truck with separate compartments. The truck was then dumped at the recycling center with the glass still separated. When twenty tons of a color were collected, it was shipped to a glass manufacturer. One contaminant could cause the rejection of an entire load of glass weighing 40,000 pounds.
By 2008 contamination of loads forced cities like Dubuque to ship their glass to an intermediate optical sorting facility and then reship it to the manufacturer. This cut profits for the program. This resulted in glass collection no longer being a sustainable practice--costs exceeded benefits. Residents were asked to shop for products that were packaged in a locally recyclable form.
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Source:
Schultz, Paul. "Gary Glass 2.0 "It's Time for Sustainability," Julien's Journal, April 2011, p. 64
