Owasso’s green dream: the bin predicament
By Tony Cerqueira
Photo of Glenn Mccurley helping recycler taken by Tony Cerqueira
In a world increasingly focused on sustainability, the city of Owasso faces a mystifying obstacle: the absence of adequate recycling locations. Having only one recycling center located on main street, Owasso forces its willing residents to allocate a respectable portion of their day to make a recycling commute. For many, the effort required to recycle becomes a significant hindrance as recycling can feel more like a chore than a community duty. This challenge leaves numerous feeling doubtful and begs the question: with quickly transitioning priorities of sustainability, why doesn’t Owasso provide residential recycling bins for its community?
Some, however, believe Owasso is on a track to success. Glenn Mccurley, the assistant manager of the Owasso Recycling Center, provides an additional perspective.
Mccurley confidently addresses skepticism head on, stating, “All of [the Owasso recycling center’s] recyclables are actually recycled. … I know it because I deliver them.”
Many citizen’s criticism comes from the fact Owasso is a large-scale city in comparison to its small recycling center; however, this wasn’t always the case.
“When Owasso started [recycling], they started with this little bitty recycle center here, and Owasso exploded real fast. It grew, and it about outgrew [the people of Owasso], so we expanded—[the expansion] … is our recycle center now. It is four times the size it used to be,” Mccurley clarified.
It is very easy to judge a city like Owasso in its current state, but without knowing the historical context, misunderstandings can lead to false judgments.
In Mccurley’s eyes, “This [recycling center] is big enough for Owasso, but we have a lot of people that live outside of Owasso that come in here and recycle, which is fine. We like that.”
In fact, there are many accommodations that have been put in place to maximize accessibility and convenience.
“[The Owasso Recycling Center] is open 24/7,” Mccurley mentioned. “It is the only one in the state like that.”
Additionally, a truck to deliver recyclables is timely and costly, and having non-citizens dropping off their recyclables at the Owasso center adds pressure to the city to implement residential recycling bins. Despite the pressure, the city of Owasso does see a future of these personalized recycling bins in the near future.
Mccurley reassured the progress saying, “In the next four to five years, [The city of Owasso] definitely plans to add [individual recycling bins] for homes, but it is a big number to start with,” he added.
The most significant drawback to the plan is its cost, which also poses a considerable delay in its implementation.
“It is a $5 million dollar start out [for residential recycling bins], not counting the trucks [which are] three quarters of $1 million a piece,” Mccurley remarked. “[The city] will have to have at least four [trucks] to pick up the recyclables.”
All in all, the city of Owasso can anticipate residential recycling bins within its near future. For now, the Owasso Recycling Center is the city’s best answer to recycling, and regardless of criticisms, has a sizable impact on the community.