KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Broken glass littered on sidewalks, playgrounds and sports fields is more than unsightly, it's dangerous.
Now, one Kansas City, Missouri, teen is working to fix the problem.
Izac Santos practices and plays soccer with his friends at 9th and Van Brunt in Kansas City's Northeast neighborhood.
"I practice here every day, almost every day, and I see glass on the floor and on the field and I thought that's not good for the field," Santos said.
The concern of Izac and his friends being seriously injured, along with a class visit from people at Ripple Glass, inspired the 13-year-old to do something.
Santos is a student at Ryogoku Soccer Academy where he was assigned a passion project to seek a solution to an issue he was concerned about.
Santos contacted Ripple Glass about a recycling bin. After the company contacted city officials for approval, a glass recycling bin was placed at the park at 9th and Van Brunt.
"There's been a little bit of a gap in service in terms of glass recycling in this area," Morgan Henderson, with Ripple Glass, said. "So, when this option came up to place one of our Ripple Glass recycling bins in this parking lot, we really jumped at the opportunity."
The need for glass recycling exists beyond Izac's neighborhood.
In April, KSHB 41 spoke with an official form the Mid America Regional Council's Solid Waste Management District, who said the glass recycling rate in Kansas City was around 20%.
Henderson said glass is one of the easiest materials to recycle.
"We can accept any color of glass," Henderson said. "Any bottle, jar, picture frame, candle jar, anything that really you can see through, we can typically take."
Now that Santos can see his potential, he wants to pass it on to his friends.
"Hopefully, it inspires them to recycle glass and just to recycle in general," he said.
—