MISSOULA — It’s common to grab a bottle of wine or some beer after a long day at work and when you’re done, you toss the glass bottle out.
According to the non-profit Recycling Works, only one-third of all U.S. glass production is recycled with most ending up in the trash. But one non-profit is hoping to change that – starting in Missoula.
We all use glass, but, what happens when you’re finished with it? Most of it end ups in the trash, however, some of it ends up at Recycling Works of Missoula.
Glass recycling is part of a whole picture of moving towards zero waste and sustainability within our community,” explained Adam McDonald with Recycling Works. “Glass can be recycled endlessly with no loss in quality, and so we feel it’s better to recycle the glass already in use.”
The Missoula nonprofit is hoping to make glass recycling more accessible with their new transfer station and curb-side pick -up and trailer. The new trailer is high tech, featuring a hydraulic arm to dump the glass easier and faster.
The new transfer station is currently being built and will hold 150,000 pounds of glass. Recycling Works will hold that glass in the storage unit until a truck from Salt Lake City comes to pick it up.
“They’ll receive it and turn it into new, raw resources that can be used to make new glass bottle, building materials, fiber glass and coal that goes into asphalt,” said Aryan Erickson with Americorp Vista.
The reason the truck comes from Salt Lake City is because that’s the closest glass processing site to Missoula. Recycling Works say Montanans are behind on the recycling curve and their goal is to change that.