The greenest way to recycle a glass bottle is to wash it and use it again.
But there are only so many people who are going to do that. So a local entrepreneur wants to find new uses for crushed glass, which he gets indirectly from all those green recycling bins across the Richmond area.
Bill Richardson’s company, Precision Recycling Industries of Virginia, is trying to create a viable after-market for glass, which it crushes to create products that are used for sandblasting as well as in tile and countertops.
“Most of the glass picked up on the curb from Northern Virginia to Wise County ends up in the landfill,” said Richardson, who has worked for recycling companies since the 1980s.
Richardson said he and his partners invested $1 million to get the company up and running.
The company’s sandblasting product was approved by the military recently and since then the U.S. Navy, which uses the material to sandblast the hulls of its ships and barges, has become one of its biggest customers.
The glass product is a replacement for coal slag, a byproduct of coal production, which contains arsenic, lead and other toxic metals. Richardson said the military and shipping industries have been under increased pressure from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to find a more environmentally friendly alternative, leading to business for Precision.
The green building movement has also increased demand for the company’s filler products, which when used in construction materials earn points towards LEED certification. Richardson said the cost of his product is comparable to coal slag but varies from contract to contract.
The company added a second shift last week and hired seven people, bringing the number of workers to 13. Richardson said the facility is capable of recycling up to 50,000 tons of glass each year. Precision is working with Tidewater Fibers (TFC), the curbside recycling company for Virginia, and Canusa Hershman Recycling Company, which operates in Northern Virginia, to recycle 100 percent of the glass that they pick up.
So far this year, Precision has received 2,000 tons of glass bottles from CHRC. Richardson is still working with TFC to get its glass cleaned up enough to be processed. The problem, Richardson said, is that the glass is often contaminated by shredded paper and other trash, which slows down the production process. Once the system is worked out, TFC’s Chester facility will generate about 900 tons of glass a month, and its Tidewater facility about 1,000 tons a month, he said.
Richardson wouldn’t say how much he would be paying for the glass, but he said it is nominal.
“I can tell you that it doesn’t cover the freight. For Manassas, they’ll have to pay more to ship it than we pay them, but it is less than they pay to landfill it, so there is a cost savings,” Richardson said.
TFC might see a small profit, or at least break even, for glass coming from its Chester facility because it is only a few miles from Precision Recycling.
Bernard Harris, director of operations for the Central Virginia Waste Management Authority, said that they and TFC have struggled to find a good use for the glass that has been collected in the Richmond area.
“It was being recycled, but not in a good way,” said Harris.
Area glass has been used as an aggregate material for road construction and drain fields, as well as alternative daily cover for landfills. For all of those uses, TFC has to pay to get it off of their hands, he said. Because Richmond’s glass is collected with different colors mixed together, it is unsuitable for making new bottles.
But Harris said Precision offers a promising solution to the area’s glass disposal problem.
“This is a much better use for it,” said Harris. “The advantage of Precision’s operation is coming up with a product that has a value.”
Further reading:
Glass Dismissed
Huntsville residents: Your ‘recycled’ glass has been ending up in an incinerator
In Cheyenne, glass pile shows recycling challenges
Al Harris is a BizSense reporter. Please send news tips to [email protected].
The greenest way to recycle a glass bottle is to wash it and use it again.
But there are only so many people who are going to do that. So a local entrepreneur wants to find new uses for crushed glass, which he gets indirectly from all those green recycling bins across the Richmond area.
Bill Richardson’s company, Precision Recycling Industries of Virginia, is trying to create a viable after-market for glass, which it crushes to create products that are used for sandblasting as well as in tile and countertops.
“Most of the glass picked up on the curb from Northern Virginia to Wise County ends up in the landfill,” said Richardson, who has worked for recycling companies since the 1980s.
Richardson said he and his partners invested $1 million to get the company up and running.
The company’s sandblasting product was approved by the military recently and since then the U.S. Navy, which uses the material to sandblast the hulls of its ships and barges, has become one of its biggest customers.
The glass product is a replacement for coal slag, a byproduct of coal production, which contains arsenic, lead and other toxic metals. Richardson said the military and shipping industries have been under increased pressure from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to find a more environmentally friendly alternative, leading to business for Precision.
The green building movement has also increased demand for the company’s filler products, which when used in construction materials earn points towards LEED certification. Richardson said the cost of his product is comparable to coal slag but varies from contract to contract.
The company added a second shift last week and hired seven people, bringing the number of workers to 13. Richardson said the facility is capable of recycling up to 50,000 tons of glass each year. Precision is working with Tidewater Fibers (TFC), the curbside recycling company for Virginia, and Canusa Hershman Recycling Company, which operates in Northern Virginia, to recycle 100 percent of the glass that they pick up.
So far this year, Precision has received 2,000 tons of glass bottles from CHRC. Richardson is still working with TFC to get its glass cleaned up enough to be processed. The problem, Richardson said, is that the glass is often contaminated by shredded paper and other trash, which slows down the production process. Once the system is worked out, TFC’s Chester facility will generate about 900 tons of glass a month, and its Tidewater facility about 1,000 tons a month, he said.
Richardson wouldn’t say how much he would be paying for the glass, but he said it is nominal.
“I can tell you that it doesn’t cover the freight. For Manassas, they’ll have to pay more to ship it than we pay them, but it is less than they pay to landfill it, so there is a cost savings,” Richardson said.
TFC might see a small profit, or at least break even, for glass coming from its Chester facility because it is only a few miles from Precision Recycling.
Bernard Harris, director of operations for the Central Virginia Waste Management Authority, said that they and TFC have struggled to find a good use for the glass that has been collected in the Richmond area.
“It was being recycled, but not in a good way,” said Harris.
Area glass has been used as an aggregate material for road construction and drain fields, as well as alternative daily cover for landfills. For all of those uses, TFC has to pay to get it off of their hands, he said. Because Richmond’s glass is collected with different colors mixed together, it is unsuitable for making new bottles.
But Harris said Precision offers a promising solution to the area’s glass disposal problem.
“This is a much better use for it,” said Harris. “The advantage of Precision’s operation is coming up with a product that has a value.”
Further reading:
Glass Dismissed
Huntsville residents: Your ‘recycled’ glass has been ending up in an incinerator
In Cheyenne, glass pile shows recycling challenges
Al Harris is a BizSense reporter. Please send news tips to [email protected].