 Allied Waste was under fire for throwing away glass residents had recycled, but a new general manager helped clean up their act.
They started trucking the glass to Atlanta instead. That was costing the company around $1,000 dollars a trip, but a partnership with Green Mountain Glass, a new recyclery in Huntsville, has taken away that burden.
"We reduce our carbon footprint. Instead of trucking it all the way to Atlanta, we can just truck it a few miles down the street to Green Mountain´s facility," said Allied Waste General Manager Bill Brinkley.
He says it´s much more cost- effective, too. Allied Waste handed over their glass for no charge.
"It´s a win for us because we can get back to our main focus on paper, plastics and cardboard and recyclables of that nature," said Brinkley.
And Green Mountain Glass, off Meridian Street, gets to jump start a business with donations.
"That´s just brown glass off Coca Cola bottles," said Green Mountain Vice President Charlie Matthews, as he showed WHNT News 19 samples of counter tops made of glass pieces and cement.
Matthews is really excited about his products-to-be.
"A glass bottle can sit in the landfill for a million years before it decomposes, and we´re taking this stuff and turning it into beautiful products that people can enjoy," he said.
Products like counters and glass cullet, which is a colorful and low-maintenance alternative to mulch.
"At full capacity, our plant will take 400 tons of glass out of the landfill per week," said Matthews proudly.
He expects Green Mountain to be fully operational in a few weeks.
Matthews says restaurants and bars donated the majority of the glass they have stored. He says more than 30 of them have agreed to recycle with Green Mountain, and he´s hoping more sign up.
Grille 29, Mellow Mushroom, and Finnegan´s Pub are a few of the businesses recycling their glass with Green Mountain.
Huntsville residents can drop off their glass at The Little Green Store on Monte Sano, Flying Monkey Arts, Durable Designs, Huntsville Recyclery (Allied Waste´s facility) off A Cleaner Way, and Main Street South.
Matthews says they´re adding new glass drop-off sites around the city each week. |
