Calgarians have been recycling at a frenzied pace since the introduction of the blue cart program in April and while most of the items are being bundled up and sold off, glass is piling up because there just isn't a market for it right now.
Once all the recyclables are sorted, the glass ends up stock piled at the East Calgary Landfill.
The city says the glass can be stored outside because it doesn't deteriorate from the elements like paper products.
Recycled glass is typically used for home insulation or added to road paint, but because of poor market conditions, the city is looking at using it as an aggregate replacement in road construction.
The Clean Calgary Association says this glass issue should make people more aware of what they're purchasing before it ends up in the recycle cart.
"With recycling there is a lot involved with that process including energy and needing to find markets to sell product, and collecting and cleaning, and all of these different aspects, so ideally we would reduce the amount of material we use in the first place, so it's not a magic solution to recycle everything," said Clean Calgary Executive Director, Natalie Odd.
Clean Calgary says re-using is also a component to keeping items out of the land fill and that many glass containers can be used for making jam, or canning fruits and vegetables.
For more information on the Clean Calgary Association initiatives click on the link.
For more information on the Blue Cart Recycling Program visit the City of Calgary's Blue Cart Website.
