A Blawnox teen wants to bring back a service his residence has not had in about two years.
Recycling was eliminated in the garbage contract that council approved in September 2023.
Borough Manager Kathy Ulanowicz said the decision came down to economics.
The new three-year contract with Waste Management came with a hike near 14% without recycling and a more than 38% increase with the service.
Simon Passerrello-Carnevali, 16, was appointed as a junior council member in September 2024.
He learned about what had happened to the recycling program and wanted to make a difference.
“I figured that there were residents who were upset they weren’t able to recycle,” Simon said. “We definitely were. It felt like it was an all-or-nothing thing. We wanted to change that so residents who were interested would have a way they’d be able to recycle that wasn’t trucks coming in (to town).”
Simon’s mother, Christine Carnevali, is on council. The pair are working with the borough to set up bins for plastics, glass and cardboard behind their Walnut Street home.
Ulanowicz said they are checking on logistics and liability before donating starter containers originally used for the borough’s food pantry.
“We had somebody bring a whole lot of stuff to our food pantry, and they don’t want their bins back,” the manager said. “We can work on that. They will certainly help with the beginning.”
The manager said the borough supports Simon’s proposal and is thrilled to see “young people in the world looking to save our environment.”
The proposal is something the family has been working on for the past few months.
Carnevali said she was very proud when her son first told her about the initiative.
“I was pretty enthusiastic,” the mother said. “Recycling is a big deal. To reuse things, issues of sustainability, (and) just leaving a place better than you found it. I feel like recycling is all part of that. I was obviously proud that he had thought of it, and enthusiastic about actually being able to recycle here in our community again.”
Details for material distribution also need to be worked out.
Simon said the current plan is to have a biweekly collection with materials given to fellow Shady Side Academy student Kabeer Chopra of Fox Chapel, who launched his own recycling nonprofit nearly two years ago.
Kabeer, 17, founded GreenBridge412, a free recycling program geared to keeping materials such as batteries, plastics and glass out of landfills.
He goes to clients’ houses on Sundays to collect the items.
Batteries are taken to Staples, glass is deposited in the recycling bin behind Fox Chapel’s borough building, and plastics are donated to Giant Eagle.
Kabeer said he has a few conversations with Simon and his family, and is excited about the collaboration.
“I think it’s great,” Kabeer said. “It’s great to see a friend do a similar initiative and it’s great to work with another organization.”
GreenBridge412 has welcomed five new volunteers and two business partners since December.
About 6,211 glass bottles, 642 pounds of plastic packaging and 334 pounds of household batteries were collected before the new additions.
Kabeer said operations have gotten easier with the additional help.
The Blawnox recycling program launch date has yet to be determined.
Simon plans to gauge residents’ interest in recycling through an online survey.
A QR code for the survey will be sent out via borough newsletter mid-March.
There are about 1,550 borough residents.