For years, DeKalb County residents have been confused about glass recycling. Now husband-and-wife team Miles and Laura Mendelson have a solution to this problem: Guiltless Glass Recycling.
“We’ve always tried to recycle everything we can. When DeKalb County stopped accepting glass in the single stream curb pickup, we saved glass from around the house and took it to different drop off locations, but it became messy and a hassle,” Miles Mendelson said, especially with young kids around.
Enter the concierge service Guiltless Glass Recycling. Customers subscribe for $20 per month or $200 per year, and leave their glass recycling at the curb once a month for at-home pickup in an 18-gallon receptacle supplied by Guiltless.
After talking to friends in their neighborhood and beyond, Mendelson noted the confusion around recycling in DeKalb County.
In 2017, DeKalb County discontinued the placement of glass in curbside single-stream recycling. Instead, DeKalb County has provided county-operated glass recycling drop-off containers in each commission district. Brookhaven’s glass recycling is located at the Public Safety Building on Briarwood Road.
This approach “maintains the integrity of recycled glass, and makes the recyclable item a more marketable and valuable resource,” according to DeKalb County.
DeKalb County workers are not supposed to pick up recycling bins with glass mixed in.
“When it gets to their vendor, if it has glass mixed in with it, it’s considered unacceptable and contaminated, and it’s taken to the landfill,” Mendelson said.
With Guiltless Glass Recycling, customers don’t have to remove labels, lids, corks, or candle wax. Just leave it in the bin and forget it. Guiltless does not take electronics or light bulbs.
“Glass is heavy. If it’s broken, it’s sharp and dangerous. A lot of people just don’t want to deal with it,” he said. “We had a customer specifically tell us they stopped drinking Topo Chico [glass-bottled mineral water] because they felt bad about not recycling their glass. As soon as they signed up, they went out and bought a case.”
Mendelson comes by each month to pick up the glass and take it to Strategic Materials in College Park, one of the largest recycling companies in the country. The glass is ground and sold in a secondary market.
Guiltless can be found in Brookhaven, Chamblee, Dunwoody, and Oak Grove. Mendelson said he will open a new service area if a group of neighbors are interested. He’s trying to reach HOAs, liquor stores, and residents.
With a professional background in commercial real estate, it took being laid off in August for Mendelson to jump into the world of sustainability. Guiltless had about 20 customers when he spoke to Rough Draft in early December.
“This is something that my wife and I have been talking about for years,” he said. “We are just getting the word out.”