Kansas University Club Collects Glass Bottles from Bars

One of the newest clubs at Kansas University is focusing its efforts off-campus: The Students for Bar Recycling club is collecting glass bottles from local bars to be recycled.

The group’s grand opening party was on April 1, using Mr. T’s image to “pity the fool” who doesn’t recycle (since the event was held on April Fool’s Day). The group charged an admission fee and sold reusable mugs to raise money for recycling bins to be placed in Lawrence bars.

Kansas University's Students for Bar Recycling club will collect glass bottles from bars. Photo: NYtimes.com

Student and Founder Andrew Stanley has already been approached by bars in Kansas City that want to recycle beverage containers, as well as student groups in California and Oklahoma looking to start the same program in their college towns.

In just one night, the group was able to collect 144 pounds of glass for recycling. For some bars in Lawrence, glass bottles can represent more than 50 percent of the nightly sales, but there’s no service that will pick-up glass bottles for free.

While glass is 100 percent recyclable, it has less value when resold than other containers such as aluminum cans or plastic bottles. According to the RecycleNet Composite Index, aluminum cans are currently worth $600 per ton when recycled, while mixed colors of glass are worth $5 per ton.

As a result, it’s more difficult to find glass recyclers. In Earth911’s recycling database, there are 42 percent more locations nationwide that accept aluminum cans than clear glass.

Later this month, the Students for Bar Recycling will have a “green pub crawl” where anyone who brings one of the reusable mugs sold on April Fool’s Day will receive special discounts.