COLUMBIA — The city of Columbia is offering a way for residents to recycle glass for free, more than a year after its recycling facility was destroyed by an EF1 tornado.
Through a partnership with Ripple Glass, residents can now drop off glass food and beverage containers to the landfill for free, according to a city news release.
Glass containers can be placed in a Ripple Glass purple container at the landfill, located at 5700 Peabody Road, according to the release.
Glass of any color is accepted as long as it is transparent and free of any food or liquid, according to the news release.
All glass must fit through the porthole opening on each purple container, according to the release.
The bin does have a sliding door, but a spokesperson for the Columbia Utilities Department said the sliding door won’t be available to use soon. The goal is for residents to be able to only use the glass bottle hole, which only fits one bottle at a time, spokesperson Jason West said.
This is the first time Columbia has allowed glass recycling outside of drop-off events since the recycling facility’s destruction in April 2025.
Drop-offs will be accepted at the landfill from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays.
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The city of Columbia is also hosting a drop-off event from a.m. to noon on Saturday at the Grissum Building, where glass bottles and jars will be accepted.
West said Columbia used to have nine recycling drop-off bins around the city.
These used to be unstaffed, and people would throw a mix of trash inside these recycling bins, West said. This caused the contents of the container to have to be thrown in the landfill.
While the new purple bin is not staffed, it is located next to the Columbia Sanitary Landfill with cameras around the site.
Jefferson City has also used these purple bins. Once a week, the bins get emptied into glass bunkers. Ripple then receives a call from the city and collects the glass to take it to Kansas City.
Rachel Senzee, the neighborhood services manager at Jefferson City, said the city is not looking to add any more bins. As of now, the city has four bins that diverted 280 tons of glass in the full year of 2025.
“Glass recycling is one of those programs we like as a community because it’s good for everyone,” Senzee said. “It’s a great program, and I’m excited for Columbia to get it.”
All four bins in Jefferson City have been wrapped in artwork made by professional artists. The artists collaborated with high school art teachers and students, which helped the city turn this into an effort to foster pride and engagement, Senzee said.