Dive Brief:
- Clear Intentions — a glass recycling company based in Denver, CO — is working to hand-sort glass in the Denver area to reduce it from ending up in a landfill. Currently, about 12,000 tons of glass end up in Colorado landfills each month.
- The company works with clients, such as bars and restaurants, to asses glass waste, and then offers the clients several 64-gallon carts to collect the waste. A weekly pickup then takes the glass to be sorted and recycled.
- Using a grant provided by the Colorado Department of Public Health, the company has been able to establish a recycling facility, as well as purchase a sorting machine, CAT tractor, and heat blaster.
Dive Insight:
Currently, only about 17% of Denver's recyclable glass is recycled, with the rest being discarded to Colorado landfills. Much of the glass sent to recycling centers cannot withstand their compactors, resulting in crushed glass pieces that can not be used. Other cities, such as Lubbock, TX, have seen similar issues with glass getting pulverized in a recycling machine.
Some materials that are sorted and cannot be sent to bottling manufacturers are instead collected in a separate 1-ton crate, and then sent to the appropriate waste management facilities. By hand-sorting through each glass piece that is collected, Clear Intentions is working to eliminate the issue of glass recyclables being wasted to create 100% recycling of glass throughout Denver.
