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All About Glass

A down-and-dirty Q&A about how CSWD recycles glass.

What do we do with 13 million pounds!—of glass bottles and jars recycled every year.

Find out what your glass bottle or jar is most likely to turn into when it goes through the recycling process.

A large mound of granular material sits in concrete storage

Processed Glass Aggregate at the CSWD MRF.

Watch

Learn more about the recycling process in this behind-the-scenes MRF video.

Produced in 2015 by CSWD with support from the Regional Education Television Network (RETN).

Questions? Comments? Let us know here.

More About Processed Glass Aggregate (PGA)

UVM Extension’s Across The Fence episode about CSWD’s PGA research project with UVM engineering students

VPR’s Brave Little State episode: “What Happens to Vermont’s Recycling?”

PGA Information sheet anyone desiring to use PGA from CSWD’s recycling facility in a civil engineering project

Through the Looking Glass: A transparent look at glass recycling in New England (Interactive map and short videos by the Northeast Resource Recycling Association.)

CSWD Glass Recycling Investments

$2.2 million: Cost to build the CSWD Materials Recovery Facility in Williston (1993; 60% State grant and bond)

$2.5 million: Conversion to single-stream facility; CSWD retires the “MRF Only” bond and combines with other financing needs under two new bonds. (2003)

2012: All CSWD bonds are retired (paid in full).

$1.9 million: Cost to replace and upgrade MRF equipment to improve efficiency and quality control of output. (2014)

$0.5 million: Cost for new machinery for enhanced glass processing. (2015)

TOTAL Investments in Materials Recovery Facility: $7 million

Equivalent in 2019 dollars: Nearly $10 million