Red Bridge loses Ripple Glass bin

By Jill Draper

A popular drop-off spot for recycling glass at the Red Bridge Shopping Center disappeared in October and is not likely coming back—unless the new grocery store scheduled to open later in the year wants to be the host, said a Ripple Glass representative. The previous host was Ball’s Sun Fresh Market, which closed last January. 

“Property manager Lane 4 has the final say, but if the new tenants are interested, it would go a long way,” commented Morgan Henderson, PR and marketing manager for Ripple. “It would be wonderful if we could place the bin back again.”

According to Henderson, the purple Ripple Glass bin in the southeast corner of the parking lot rated among the top 15 of more than 100 bins in the metro area since it was put there in 2009. Last year the glass recycling company collected over 155 tons of glass at that location, she said, noting, “The Red Bridge Shopping Center has a really accessible parking lot and the residents in south Kansas City do a great job of recycling.”

Lane 4, however, said the bin consistently attracted people who dumped items besides glass, including old furniture, lumber, tree limbs and garbage. “We’re in the final stages of transforming the Red Bridge Center into a clean, charming, clutter-free and elegant environment,” said Owen Buckley, Lane 4 president, in an email. “We persevered as long as we could and worked on solutions, but in the end, our own sustainability objectives and the realities of the Ripple bin were simply at odds.”

Buckley pointed out that Ripple offers two other glass recycling bins within five minutes of the Red Bridge site: One is near the Price Chopper at 103rd Street and State Line Road and another is in the overflow parking lot at the Trailside Center at 99th Street and Holmes Road.

Nearby cities with purple glass recycling bins include Grandview, Belton and Raymore. Meanwhile, Ripple is partnering with Roeland Park in Kansas on a curbside pickup program and is looking at providing a similar service in Leawood, where strict screening requirements prohibit bin sites. Also,  some area residents receive glass curbside pickup through a different company as a membership perk from their homeowner association.

Buckley agreed that Ripple provides a valuable community service. “We would entertain at some point in time bringing the bin back,” he said in a follow-up conversation about the Red Bridge spot. “Right now we’ve got enough things to deal with and we just said enough is enough.”

Henderson confirmed that non-glass items had been dumped in the past, but said it wasn’t a huge problem. Ripple sent its own drivers to collect glass and sweep the parking lot around the bin at Red Bridge every 10 days, she said. When they heard about trash or furniture being dumped, they would try to send out a truck immediately.

Once the glass is collected, it’s crushed and cleaned at a processing plant east of downtown. Most gets made into fiberglass insulation at the Owens Corning facility in Kansas City, Kansas, but some is trucked to Oklahoma where it’s made into new glass bottles. Ripple is beginning similar programs in St. Louis and Atlanta, Georgia, where Owens Corning has another plant. 

“We’re looking to Ripplecate,” Henderson said. “Our team is always open to ideas and feedback, so if any business owner is interested in hosting a Ripple Glass bin, or if a resident has information to share, please don’t hesitate to reach out through info@rippleglass.com.”