"The glass component of recycling is long overdue," says City Councilor Miguel Silva, chairman of the South Central Solid Waste Authority (SCSWA) board. "This will be a community effort and it will be up to the community to make it a success."
At the recent SCSWA Glass Recycling Subcommittee meeting, members were introduced to the "Glass Gator" - a small glass crusher purchased for community demonstrations at upcoming events. Subcommittee members took turns placing glass bottles into the machine to observe the Gator crushing glass into aggregate that can be used to make new glass products.
Committee members agreed: This was a great learning experience to help plan moving forward with glass recycling.
During the demonstration, limitations became apparent, such as metal caps that can obstruct the crushing process. Benefits were also clear: glass aggregate takes up only a fraction of the space that glass bottles do.
The committee is now brainstorming ways to involve local businesses and encourage the community to get excited and get involved.
Because of intense community interest in recycling glass, the SCSWA previously explored the option of collecting and hauling glass bottles to businesses in other cities, already set up to crush glass and reuse it. But the transportation costs of heavy glass killed that idea.
The alternative is to create and encourage local businesses here that
can use crushed glass -- blue, green, amber, and clear.
"This is exciting for the Las Cruces Green Chamber. Glass crushing opens up opportunities for economic development in our community and reduces glass in our landfill," says Carrie Hamblen, Green Chamber executive director. "Our community is creative and innovative enough to come up with exciting results. This is an example of a way to create jobs out of a need."
LOGO
Tiffany Pegoda, SWSWA recycling coordinator, explains: "This is the beginning of a pilot program. We are preparing for a public demonstration on Earth Day in April. Then we hope to unveil the first stage of a drop-off glass recycling program by early summer."
Note: Glass recycling will not be part of curbside recycling pickup. Friedman Recycling does not recycle glass. So, when the program kicks off, glass recycling will be drop-off only, and drop-off locations are being identified now.
Green Connections is submitted by the South Central Solid Waste Authority, managing solid waste, recyclables, and fighting illegal dumping in the City of Las Cruces and Doña Ana County. To contact the SCSWA, call (575) 528-3800 or visit TheScrappyPages.com.
