Recycling: Why Bars on Dickson Street Don’t

By Caroline Hickman

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas campus makes an effort to get its students to recycle. However, just a little way off campus on Dickson street recycling is a second thought.

JJ’s Bar and Grill is one of the busiest places on Dickson street. It brings in almost 2000 people daily for its drink specials.

When you add up that many people and a ton of plastic cups, aluminum cans and glass beer bottles, you get lots of waste that could be recycled.

However, bars on Dickson street have a hard time recycling because it’s just too much to do in a fast-paced environment.

“There is so much going on on the fly that it’s just much easier to just throw it in the trash when you’re doing stuff,” said Richard Tolleson the General Manager of JJ’s. “The way our restaurant is built we can’t put three trash cans in the same spot. It’s just hard for us to do when it’s so busy.”

Gary Enzor the Recycling Coordinator for Razorback Recycling on campus said, “Most recycling brokers do not accept glass because there’s little to no profit in it, and if the glass is broken it becomes a cut hazard.”

Enzor says that he assumes why none of the Dickson street bars participate in recycling is because there is just no incentive for them to do so.

However, Tolleson mentioned that he would like to be more environmentally friendly.