Recycle 2 Save

"Glass is 100% recyclable and can be recycled endlessly without loss in quality or purity - something few food and beverage packaging options can claim." By the Glass Packaging Institute.  Glass is an amazing material that can be recycled (and recycled, and recycled, and recycled....) glass can also be reused BUT... it currently poses many, many challenges to MRF's (material recovery facilities). Glass has been a problem for quite some time now but with the increase in single stream collection it's become an even larger hurdle. The good news is that it seems that the recycling of glass has increased but the bad news is that, at this point, in the form that it's often received in, it is not unilaterally able to be recycled. We need help and here's why:  1. Glass is breakable. As glass is placed in bins, transported, dumped at drop center(s), and processed the whole bottle tends to become many, many pieces. The pieces get mixed with...

If you are in the area and have happened to drive by our Hamburg, PA location I am sure that you have noticed our mountain of "glass". It's not just normal glass, it has been processed and is ready for use. We take great pride in using every possible item to its fullest recycling potential. An unfortunate side effect of transporting recyclables is broken glass (of mixed colors a.k.a. mixed cullet). Most producers who are in search of recycled glass need it to be segregated by color and cannot use mixed broken pieces. Since there was no "real" recycling options we have a large piece of equipment that acts like a giant stone tumbler. This equipment helps to remove plastic and other contaminants while getting it to a uniform size and tumbling it to remove sharp edges. While this material has obvious limitations (you won't be building your home with it) it also has a lot of areas that it excels at. The  material tested and approved (and in use) as a filteri...

Unlike the month before a majority of the bins are full, some are even overflowing, switching to a single stream recycling program appears to be a success but wait, hold the presses. Single stream recycling has proven to be more enticing to most participants. It seems easier, less to know and less to do; who isn't about easier these days? The unfortunate result is a harder job at the recycling facility because despite higher participation there is also higher amounts of contamination. Our sorters who previously handled paper separation have transitioned into the mixed materials. Yes, garbage always happened occasionally (even when it was strictly paper) but not on the scale that the single stream collection has provided. Not only is sorting the mixed items not the most sought after job but it is also costly for the materials recovery facility who pays per ton for the material to be unloaded only to pay a higher per ton rate to have the waste/contaminants hauled away. As a ...

Learn a bit more about your recycling. What happens to it after the curb? Trash to Treasure Teaser. It's Tonight, Don't Miss It!! WFMZ channel 69 at 7:30pm

So I've been talking up our refresh of an old favorite of ours (no, we aren't at all biased). I am proud to announce that we now have real air times. It'll be on WFMZ Channel 69 June 18 @ 7:30pm August 20 @ 7:30pm November 29 @ 7:30pm To recap just in case you weren't paying attention Trash to Treasure is a 30 minute show which explores your recycling and what really happens to it. We give an insiders view of our facility and some of our amazing customers were kind enough to do the same (for the promotion of recycling & composting). We do have plans of posting a down loadable version on our website (after the air date) which can be used to educate others. I am pretty excited (couldn't tell?) Just a few teasers:

Another post started with a song.. here's to hoping that it will stick in your mind all day long. You can thank me later. Friday morning I finally had the pleasure of having lasik completed on both my eyes. I had been wanting to do it for years but with my two children coming fairly close together and the requirements involved I had to wait. I was excited and couldn't wait for the day I would be free of glasses and contacts but I was oh so nervous. I doubted my ability to stay still and the pain I imagined was immense. I had family and friends go before and all raved about the results but I still had worries of my own. I had witnessed the results and heard the testimony but I still worried what if things didn't go right? Obviously the idea of losing sight is significantly scarier than the idea I'll be tying this into (recycling/composting/being kind to our planet). "New" environmental programs do not have quite the repercussions ...

At CRI, Hamburg PA all that glitters is gold glass. Do you know what happens to the glass that you put in your recycling bin? If you answered that it gets sorted by color, melted down & eventually made into new bottles..Bravo! (If you didn't.. take the credit and nod) Tougher question.. do you know what happens to all the glass that got broken, dirty & mixed into a multi color mess at the bottom of the bins? At CRI this material is processed and goes on to be used in sandmound septic systems, fill solutions (in place of stone) and used in other finished products. During the construction of  a new building at the Hamburg site management was thrilled to use a brick material that contained our very own glass aggregate.                                   ...