Don’t let glass go to the dump, recycle it into sand

In the wide seaside, sometimes you can see such crystal clear stones. In fact, they are not stones, but glass fragments that have been beaten by wind, sun and waves for a long time, so some people call them "sea glass".

As an inorganic substance, although glass does not have a harmful impact on the environment like plastic products, a large number of discarded glass that cannot be recycled has lost its value that could be reused, and the recycling of glass has also become a problem.

The NOLA landfill in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, originally had a lot of broken glass that would have been landfilled or incinerated along with other garbage, but now these discarded glass has a new place that can turn waste into treasure—— "Glass Half Full"

"Glass Half Full" is an organization specializing in glass recycling and utilization. The recycled glass will be crushed here and then used to meet the needs of different industries and regions. One of the most special uses is to use these recycled glass sand to restore the Louisiana coastline and prevent coastal land loss.

This glass recycling project actually came from the idea of ​​Franziska Trautmann and Max Steitz, students at Tulane (Tulane) University, on a night after drinking. Looking at the glass wine bottles in their hands, the two thought that in New Orleans, where the glass recycling rate is extremely low, most of them will also go to the landfill with other garbage in the trash can.

Since glass is recyclable and reusable, why let it end up in landfills? With this idea in mind, they established "Glass Half Full".

Diverting used glass products from landfills, sorting them by color, sifting and removing all plastic and metal parts, then smashing the machine and sifting through the debris yields sand and broken glass.

Glass made from a mixture of various substances, one of the main components is silicon dioxide, and the main component of sand is also silicon dioxide. It can be said that the transformation of glass into sand for "re-employment" can be said to have a natural advantage.

In addition, the world is now facing a shortage of sand, and extensive mining has destroyed local ecosystems, eroding the coast of Louisiana. "Glass Half Full" received $700,000 in funding in 2021 to study whether these recycled sands can function in the natural environment.

If research goes well, the recycled sand from discarded glass could recreate lost coastlines. Plus, the sand can be stuffed into sandbags and used in floods; it can be used to make new glass; and it can be used in landscaping.

Previously, Glass Half Full worked with the local Pointe-au-Chien Indian tribe to install gravel drains and grow native plants in recycled glass sand.

The glass recycling business, which started in the backyard by two people, now has a few more employees and has taken over a 40,000-square-foot warehouse, with more than 1,000 volunteers helping to collect glass bottles.

At present, "Glass Half Full" provides a monthly pickup service to companies for a fee, and also encourages locals to send their glasses to the institution for free, but for the problem of glass recycling, this is just the beginning.

Although the glass recycling business capacity of "Glass Half Full" is still very limited, it is impossible to achieve a thousand miles without taking a few steps. This way of turning waste into treasure and serving multiple purposes can not only make the environment better, but also make waste a waste. Put resources in the right place.

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