More Salt Lake City residents are recycling glass since curbside pickup started last fall. Today city officials celebrated the grand opening of a new facility that will increase the city’s capacity to process the glass and yield a more sustainable end product.
Momentum Recycling uses the latest technology to produce recycled glass that’s more environmental friendly than most common industrial materials. Salt Lake City Recycling Program Manager Debbie Lyons says Lyons says there is some demand for the salvaged glass in water filtration and landscaping but it will primarily be sold to a local company called Owens Corning.
“They produce fiberglass insulation which helps with energy efficiency in our homes and buildings. So we have the local market that needs glass," she says. "Now we have a company that is able to process the glass in a way that they can take it and recycle it.”
Officials say recycling glass saves money for the city, expands the life of the landfill and improves the environment. Lyons says the tons of glass collected curbside each month has steadily grown from about 12 tons in November, when the curbside program began to more than 20 tons in March. And the number of people who’ve signed on to the program has grown from 1300 in November to 2000 now.
“So we’ve always had the support of our residents and elected officials to make glass recycling more convenient," she says.
Those interested in signing up for curbside pickup can register here for an additional six dollars per month on their water bill.
