Also on the City’s web site, check out the bar/restaurant recycling resources

Get the report, Recycling Economic Information Study Update

2008 grant recipients include four that specifically target glass container recycling. Owens Brockway Glass Container, Inc., will develop a specialized mini-cullet plant in Tracy, CA to produce higher quality feedstock for glass bottle manufacturing. eCullet, Inc., will develop, manufacture, and commission a compact pre-processing and sorter system for glass from a materials recovery facility to produce furnace-ready cullet. TOMRA Pacific, Inc., will purchase equipment and construct a new glass processing facility in Commerce, CA. And finally, Vetrazzo, LLC, which will manufacture countertops with recycled glass, is adding cleaning equipment to their facility.

Funds for the grants come from unclaimed California Refund Value (CRV) on aluminum, glass, and plastic beverage containers. The 2009 grant round opens around March 13, 2009. Get details

Mixed glass containers will be collected separately and eventually end up at Rocky Mountain Bottle to be made into new glass containers. “We expect to fill up a 20-yard roll-off every couple weeks with just glass,” says John Newman, Vice President of Recycling at National Recycling.

While start-up has been delayed due to weather and contracting issues, they expect to open the doors in early February. “Everything is done,” says Newman. “We’re just waiting for fencing and a couple other items.”

For glass, this has meant a push to get cleaner recycled glass containers and more of them to Rocky Mountain Bottle Company, the primary glass processor in the state. “It was the right things to do,” says Tony Abel, Recycling Technician at RMBC. “It has helped entice folks to recycle glass or get them thinking about recycling glass.”

Part of the rebate offsets transportation costs, which has been especially helpful to communities furthest away from this market. While there has been no formal mechanism for measuring results, Abel believes that the rebate program has improved both the quantity and quality of the glass they receive.

“This rebate program is designed to reward companies that are recycling,” says Marjorie Griek, Executive Director of Colorado Association for Recycling and Chair of the committee which was set up under the new law to make recommendations on its implementation. Griek was also instrumental in getting the legislation passed. “Our real goal is supporting local markets. We want to keep recycled materials in the state rather than shipping them to outside markets,” says Griek.

Broad Ripple Village, a commercial district in a north Indianapolis, Indiana neighborhood, began recycling glass bottles at ten bars and restaurants in September 2008, the first phase of a larger recycling initiative.

According to a new poll released by GPI and Opinion Research, a majority of Americans (71%) plan to recycle following holiday parties, gatherings, or meals this year, and one-in-four (27%) plan to make a New Year’s resolution this year to recycle more.

“We’re excited about the response to our first-ever Recycle Glass Day and people’s commitments to recycle more in 2009,” said Joseph Cattaneo, GPI President. “Recycling your glass bottles and jars saves energy and the environment as glass is 100% recyclable in a closed-loop system.”

More than 1,000 tons of redeemable glass containers have been shipped out of Maui to be made in to new glass bottles since the state imposed a new standard for handling bottles in its HI-5 redemption program.

Recycling companies are still handling glass beverage containers, and paying consumers the 5-cent redemption value for each container. In turn, the state is paying the businesses 4 cents for each glass container shipped to a Mainland processor. This has boosted local efforts to recycle glass. Read the article

North Carolina state legislation requiring all Alcohol Beverage Control permit holders to recycling beverage containers starting January 1, 2008 has brought in an additional 33,750 annualized tons of glass bottles, plastic, and cans for recycling. It’s also encouraged the start-up of about a dozen new businesses to collect these recyclables.

The City of Greensboro averages over 25 ton/week of recycled glass bottles. The City collects from about 224 bars and restaurants using 96-gallon wheeled carts for automated collection. In 2008, they collected over 1,300 tons of mixed glass.

Fayetteville, NC also reports an up tick in glass recovery after the ABC law. And it’s increased recycling overall. Watch the news video

With two glass manufacturers in the state, Colorado has targeted bar and restaurant recycling in Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, and Boulder.

An award-winning program in Colorado Springs collects over 120 tons/month from more than 60 bars and restaurants.

In Fort Collins, Rob Martin, owner of “Rob’s Bike Courier Service”, hauled over 55 tons in 2008 of glass bottles—on his red Schwinn bike. Watch the news feature.

Through a California Department of Conservation grant, GPI has helped San Luis Obispo improve glass recycling beyond bars and restaurants to include wineries and breweries.

The grant provided for an additional collection truck, and now glass bottle recycling has gone from about 100 bars/restaurants in 2006 to nearly 170 locations in 2008 collecting over 100 tons a month.