What if I told you that you could buy upcycled socks, made from recycled textiles? Osom brand sells socks and other apparel that is made of up to 95% upcycled textiles. The company uses “high quality, upcycled yarns from discarded garments, reducing textile waste from going to landfill and the need for virgin fibers.” They use zero water or dyes in the process of making their yarns.1
By making high-quality upcycled clothing we are closing the loop in the fashion industry, the second largest polluting industry on the planet. -Osom Brand2
Disclaimer: I was not paid to review this product, nor does this post contain any affiliate links.
Good socks
I first heard about these when Osom Brand launched its Kickstarter in January 2017. By late 2018, they had an online store. I asked for these as a Christmas gift, and I was thrilled to receive them!
I love the subtitle, “Wear the Change.” Photo by Marie Cullis.My Osom socks with whale design. Photo by Marie Cullis.
Overall, I am very pleased with these and I plan to order more. I’ll review the different aspects of these socks in a moment. But first, check out this video about the founder and company’s process:
Comfort
These are quite comfortable and they do not slip down as some socks do. I’ve seen one or two complaints about the elasticity of these socks since they are one size fits all (in a size range). Indeed they are not very stretchy compared to other socks. For me, once they are on, this is not an issue.
Price point
These socks cost between $16.00 and $18.00 per pair. While that cost is average, it may seem high compared to other socks made from new materials. But the cost to the environment is low.
Environmental impact
The company asserts that its process is waterless. It takes more than 700 gallons of water to produce a conventional cotton t-shirt, and that does not include the water it takes to grow the cotton. That’s enough water for one human to drink for 2 and a half years!3
Osom Brand does not use dyes or harsh chemicals, which prevents water pollution because there is no toxic waste being poured into drains or pumped into rivers. This process also reduces the use of pesticides, which harm the environment and pollute our waters.
Buying recycled textile products reduces textile waste. I’ll explain more about this below.
Materials
The materials are not 100% plastic-free. They are up to 95% upcycled textiles combined with small percentages of spandex and nylon (spandex and nylon are both plastic fabrics). The trademarked name of their fiber blended yarn is OSOMTEX and it changes based on consumer demand and textile availability.
However, the company is not claiming their yarns to be plastic or polyester-free. Their goals are to promote a circular economy in the textile industry. “At OSOMTEX®, we repurpose millions of pounds of discarded post-consumer and post-industrial textile waste directly from brands and supply chain waste streams to create high-quality upcycled yarns and fabrics.”4 Repurposing is a great way to support environmental and human health.
Packaging
The socks arrived almost plastic-free, except for the little black plastic holder at the top. I plan to write an email to the company to request they stop using the plastic holder.
Plastic holder from the socks. Photo by Marie Cullis.
In the United States “fast fashion” refers to our quick cycle of fashion trends changing. So we want cheap clothing. In turn, this means it is usually made cheaply and quickly. That same clothing wears out fast from wear and the harsh chemicals from fabric softeners and laundry detergents. Then we discard last season’s items as quickly as we can to “keep up” with the current styles. This cycle allows us to consume and shop more.
Photo by Artem Bali from Pexels.
We can do better!
What if we decided to buy less clothing that is higher quality? Or buy most of our clothing second-hand? Clothing that is more timeless or classic, instead of keeping up with fashion trends? This is an area where we all have great power to generate great change.
It takes a ton of energy and insane amounts of water to generate all of that new fashion.
Why buy recycled textiles?
I know some will say that only 100% natural, organic textiles are the answer, and I don’t disagree. There are problems with plastic microfibers reaching our oceans from just washing those fabrics in the washing machine. But with all that we waste, why not support visionary concepts like this?
There are many things we can do to make a difference.
I think that there is never just one answer or one solution to any environmental or social problem. Let’s all do what we can to be the change. We can buy less brand new clothing. Or purchase less clothing in general and snub “fast fashion.” We can buy clothing secondhand, or buy upcycled products like Osom socks. We can switch to a capsule wardrobe like Project 333.
Whatever you choose to do, just by starting today, will make a difference. Thanks for reading, please share and subscribe!
In Part 1, I explained how glass recycling works in general. In this second installment, I’m going to explain some of the problems, controversies, and solutions.
Now you know that glass is 100% recyclable! And besides recycling, it has many other potential uses.
in one of my previous articles, I explained that glass from curbside pick-up in Chattanooga was not being recycled for about 4 years. This was happening for several reasons according to WestRock, the Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) for Chattanooga and much of the Southeast. At present, glass can only be recycled at the local centers, as it is no longer accepted in curbside recycling.
But it’s not just a problem in Chattanooga. It’s happening all over the place. There are many claims for not recycling glass.
“Glass [has a] 73 percent recycling rate in the European Union, 34 percent in the United States.” -Beth Porter, author of Reduce, Reuse, Reimagine5
Exploring the realities of glass recycling
There is a huge market for glass
According to MSW Management Weekly, cullet has declined in price in most parts of the country.6 They cited that contamination leads to increased processing costs thus lowering the value of glass. They wrote that many communities are removing glass collection from their recycling programs because glass recycling is expensive and labor-intensive.
The assertion that there is not much of a glass market is just plain wrong. If you’ll recall, recycling has to be profitable for it to happen. Many MRFs are claiming that there is no market for glass, but Laura Hennemann, Vice President of Marketing & Communications at Strategic Materials, indicated that they need more glass to meet end-market demand in their Atlanta facility. There is more demand for glass than there is supply! Strategic Materials is the largest glass recycling company in North America. There are many end markets for glass, and you can read more about those in Part 1.
Photo by ThreeMilesPerHour on Pixabay.
Recycling contamination
In single-stream recycling systems, meaning where all materials go into one bin for curbside pick-up, all recyclables contaminate each other because they’re all mixed together. Broken glass gets mixed in with all the other materials, and that makes it difficult and costly to sort because the machinery to separate at that level is a serious capital investment for the MRF. If the machinery to separate is cost-prohibitive, the materials get landfilled.
Curt Bucey, an executive vice president at Strategic Materials Inc., quoted in a 2015 Wall Street Journal article, said “that when used glass arrived at its plants 20 years ago, it was 98% glass and 2% other castoffs, such as paper labels and bottle caps. These days, some truckloads can include up to 50% garbage.”7 Even so, the technology for separating the materials is available!
Garbage and non-glass (ceramics, metal, plastics) mixed in with glass can somewhat affect the value of glass, but the value can be maximized by implementing best practices. The Glass Recycling Coalition (GRC) offers lots of information and resources on those.
You do not have to clean and remove labels from your glass
Glass does not have to be cleaned and the labels do not have to be removed. Glass recyclers, including Strategic Materials, have machinery that manages those as part of their regular processing. They prefer people to rinse their glass, of course, but it will get recycled either way. I rinse my recyclables because I don’t want them to attract bugs or start stinking until collection or drop-off day.
Glass containers with labels and lids. Photo by Meineresterampe on Pixabay.
Equipment damage
Another reason many MRFs assert that they cannot sort the glass before it reaches their facility is because the glass causes damage to their conveyor belts and machinery.
Glass use has decreased but only slightly
Many manufacturers of processed foods have greatly increased their output of plastic packaging in the last 25 years. Plastic is cheaper to produce and cheaper to ship. Additionally, there is a reduced chance of product loss from glass breakage. Many retailers and consumers prefer plastic for similar reasons. However, informed consumers know that there are certainly risks to our environment and health from using plastic containers. We know that there is still a high demand for recycled glass. This seems to indicate that even if usage has gone down, it’s likely only a slight decrease.
Broken glass is accepted
Broken glass is accepted by glass recycling companies (as opposed to MRFs), as it gets broken down into cullet anyway. Strategic Materials even said they prefer broken glass because you can fit more of it into a container.
Cullet, or broken down glass. Photo by Quinn Kampschroer on Pixabay.
Mixed colors are also accepted
Mixed-colored glass is ok too! Strategic Materials and other major glass recyclers have optical sorters that sort glass by color.
China’s SWORD policy does not affect glass
In 2017, China passed the National Sword policy banning plastic waste from being imported from the West, starting in January 2018. Laura Hennemann of Strategic Materials asserts that glass is produced and recycled domestically, so this policy does not affect glass recycling in the U.S. and Canada.
Conflicts of Interest
When recycling doesn’t make money, it gets transported to landfills, and then companies make money from landfilling the materials instead. In a recent New York Times article, the author interviewed Mitch Hedlund, executive director of Recycle Across America. She noted that “Some of the biggest and most dominant recycling companies in the U.S. are owned by landfill companies. Therefore, when recycling doesn’t work well, the landfill side of their businesses becomes more profitable.”8
The purpose of an MRF is to sort materials and divert them accordingly, but they are also a business that must generate income. If an MRF owns landfills, and if landfills generate more income than recycling, then the recycling system breaks down. Additionally, landfill fees also increased between 2016 and 2018, making landfills slightly more profitable.9
Public Relations affect recycling
I mentioned in my last post that I believed that some communities, including Chattanooga, may be collecting glass just to appear to be a greener city. Ninety-three percent of consumers still expect to be able to recycle glass, according to the Glass Recycling Coalition. MSW Management Weekly wrote that glass collection often continues even if it is not getting recycled. “In many cases, however, the public relations benefits and avoided tipping fees are felt to outweigh the collection and processing costs.”10
A Domino Effect
This statement sums up what happened to glass recycling in recent years: “Early in 2015, the industry’s largest players announced that glass should and would be eliminated from single-stream programs.” Many MRFs “felt permission to follow suit without justification or apologies.”11
Many MRFs demanded glass be removed from single-stream (curbside pick-up) and often the municipalities comply. Strategic Materials says most municipalities trust their MRF and believe there is no market for glass if that is what the MRF claims. Laura Hennemann at Strategic Materials suggests that municipalities should ask questions or seek out solutions together, rather than just stop recycling glass.
What is happening within other municipalities in the Southeast U.S.?
The Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) did a study of where glass from MRFs ends up. They found that 54% goes to glass processors. However, over 38% goes to landfills either as cover, fill, or trash.12
In April 2015, the Wall Street Journal published an article about the end of glass recycling in many places across the country. “Some cities…consider it more cost-effective to have residents throw glass bottles in the trash than to recycle them.”13
The Atlanta area
In June 2016, Canton, Georgia announced that their garbage and recycling collection company, Waste Management, would end the acceptance of glass bottles curbside on July 1, 2016. The company indicated that the MRF, also WestRock, would no longer accept glass bottles in the metro Atlanta area. Waste Management “halted its collection of glass in Kennesaw, Marietta, Smyrna and parts of Gwinnett County.” Gainesville, Georgia was affected as well.14
A City of Marietta spokesperson said MRFs are not able to make a profit recycling glass and it contaminates other recyclable materials. She said there was no market for mixed glass within a single-stream recycling system. She also remarked that the glass was damaging equipment at the MRF. City of Chattanooga officials cited the same reasons.
Atlanta, Georgia. Photo by Paul Brennan on Pixabay.
Knoxville
In December 2016, Knoxville, Tennessee announced that Waste Connections would stop accepting glass curbside through its Eastern Tennessee region by January 1, 2017. The Waste Connections municipal marketing manager wrote that the glass market has become limited. He said the change would preserve the overall integrity of their recycling program. He also indicated that broken glass damaged WestRock’s equipment.15
Louisville
A report from October 2018 indicated that in Louisville, Kentucky, 82 percent of all of the residential waste ended up in a landfill despite recycling efforts. Louisville also uses WestRock as an MRF.16
Misconceptions
We now know that most of those cited reasons are misconceptions and are inaccurate!
Atlanta is starting a new bid process in 2019. Perhaps with a new MRF, they’ll be able to recycle glass curbside again!
In July 2016, the City of Decatur began charging residents $25 for a separate recycling bin and now has a 97% participation rate. City officials attribute that to a comprehensive education campaign.17
Solutions
Develop solutions collaboratively
Strategic Materials and the Glass Recycling Coalition want to work with MRFs to develop solutions to improve glass recycling. They seek to improve the quality, reduce landfill costs and tipping fees, and increase efficiency. As they state, glass does not belong in a landfill. They had a webinar called “Breakthrough Glass Recycling Opportunities” which is linked under Additional Resources below, and it features many ideas and innovations related to glass recycling.
MRFs need to invest in and upgrade their facilities
The Closed Loop Fund is a finance project that invests in improving recycling infrastructure and sustainable manufacturing technologies that advance the circular economy.
Single-stream recycling needs to be rethought
The problems with glass recycling do not lie with consumers, who are eager to recycle glass. Glass manufacturers, who prefer recycled glass, want to be part of the solution. The problem is with single-stream recycling.
Single-stream recycling is a very flawed system. So I believe if you can participate in a dual-stream recycling system you should. That’s where you separate materials at the recycling center or store. It improves recycling overall!
Keep using glass!
Remember, glass is ocean-friendly, unlike plastics. In general, glass use has decreased for bottled beverages, also the main recycled glass item today. This is because beverages are also readily available in plastic and aluminum. We, as consumers, can demand more glass through our purchases. For example, I don’t buy many food or beverage products in plastic because of the possible leaching of toxic contaminants. You can do the same!
I hope this two-part series has helped you better understand glass recycling’s complexities. Do you have questions or ideas? Leave me a comment below. Thanks for reading!
Green glass recycling dumpster with lots of wine bottles. Photo by Marie Cullis.
Glass is 100% recyclable!
“Ninety-three percent of consumers still expect to be able to recycle glass.” -Glass Recycling Coalition10
In my article about glass recycling in Chattanooga, I learned and shared with you why glass is no longer accepted in curbside recycling. I shared that glass recycled through curbside for about 4 years was not recycled, it was landfilled instead. Last, I solved the mystery of whether or not the glass at the five recycling centers was actually recycled – and it is, by Strategic Materials in Atlanta.
I learned that glass recycling is complex and difficult to understand. So I am explaining how the system works in general in two parts. I hope it helps you understand!
“Recycling glass saves one-quarter to one-third the energy over virgin materials production.” -Daniel Imhoff, Paper or Plastic13
Recycling happens when it is profitable
First, you have to realize that waste management and recycling are businesses. BIG businesses. The solid waste industry in the U.S. was worth approximately $91 billion in 2022, an increase from $82 billion in 2021.18
So it comes down to money. Economics. Seems like all things do! I thought for years that it happened because it was the right thing to do for the environment.
Nope. Recycling happens because recycling makes money.
How glass is collected
It starts with you and me, the consumer. We clean and sort the glass, and recycle it through the local Solid Waste Division of the city or municipality where we reside.
In a single-stream recycling system, meaning a system in which all recyclables go into one blue bin, the materials are sent to a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) for sorting. A MRF’s primary function is to sort materials, decide what to do with those materials, and then sell and transfer them. Here’s a short YouTube video to give you a visual understanding:
How does this arrangement come to be? A city, local government, or municipality asks for and receives bids for waste management. A MRF is awarded the contract and often a hauling company as well; they are usually funded through property taxes. WestRock is the MRF for Chattanooga as well as many other municipalities in the Southeast U.S.
Almost all municipalities pay a MRF to handle and sort their recycling. Then the MRF sorts the materials through a complex system (the process varies by company), and then they sell the materials for a profit. The primary markets for recyclable glass containers are the 75 glass container manufacturing plants in the United States.
Sometimes, as in Chattanooga since January 2018, glass is not collected curbside. It must be taken to one of the five recycling centers, and that type of recycling is known as dual-stream recycling – materials are separated by the consumer into specific bins.
Glass is transported
Glass gets sent to a glass recycling company or glass manufacturer. The glass collected from dual-stream recycling goes straight to the glass recycling company. In our case, that is Strategic Materials, the largest glass recycling company in North America. In single-stream systems, the MRF separates the glass and sells it to a glass recycling company or manufacturer. (Single-stream recycling has a lot of issues, especially with glass. I’ll cover that in Part 2.)
There are forty-six glass manufacturers in the U.S., and often glass must be transported across state lines for recycling. Some large cities with lively nightlife do not collect glass, such as New Orleans and Nashville. “Municipalities choosing to go without glass point to the cost of hauling a material with low market value as the reason, but other industry folks argue that the glass market is not the problem. They consider the problem to be collection and assert that, if glass could be collected in ways that reduce its role as a contaminant, then we would see greater success with the material,” wrote Beth Porter in Reduce, Reuse, Reimagine.19
How glass is recycled
Glass is broken down and ground into cullet. Cullet and recycled glass melt at lower furnace temperatures than virgin (or new) glass ingredients, which saves energy. This also reduces carbon dioxide emissions. The Glass Recycling Coalition states: “Recycling glass has big environmental payoffs…it saves raw materials, lessens demand for energy, and cuts CO2 emissions.”20 The Glass Packaging Institute adds that glass recycling extends the life of plant equipment, such as furnaces, another cost savings.21
The technology for recycling glass just keeps getting better too. Watch this short NPR segment about it:
Demonstrated in the following two infographics from the Glass Recycling Coalition is how the system should work when the recycling loop is not broken (meaning when the glass is not deposited into landfills):
It seems so simple!
Glass Recycling Proponents
The Glass Recycling Coalition(GRC), a non-profit, is a “mission-centric, organization fostering collaboration across the glass recycling value chain” who is “dedicated to breaking down barriers in order to keep glass in the recycling stream, meet and grow end-market demand and build awareness of the benefits of glass recycling.”22They formed in 2016. Strategic Materials is a member. They also encourage MRF’s to become members. (WestRock is not a listed member, however.)
The Glass Packaging Institute (GPI) is a trade association representing the North American glass container industry. “GPI promotes glass as the optimal packaging choice, advances environmental and recycling policies, advocates industry standards, and educates packaging professionals.”23
The Container Recycling Institute (CRI) promotes the bottled beverage deposit system, called the Deposit Return System. In some states, this system charges the consumer a deposit fee of 5 or 10 cents. When the consumer returns that bottle for recycling, they get their money back. In some places, this includes glass, plastic, and aluminum bottles and cans. A Wall Street Journal article noted that “an average of around 63% of glass containers are recycled” in the 10 participating states.24 However, states that don’t have deposit programs only have a glass recycling rate of around 24%.
Tennessee does not participate in the deposit system. However, there is a proposal called the Tennessee Bottle Bill Project.
There are additional uses for glass
On top of recycling glass to make new glass containers, there are many other uses for glass in secondary markets. One of these includes road construction, using cullet either on the surface called “glassphalt” or as a road base aggregate.
Recycled glass in aggregate – isn’t that pretty? Photo from Schneppa Glass.
Recycled glass is also used as filler aggregate in storm drains and French drain systems. Other markets and uses include the fiberglass industry; glass beads for reflective paints; abrasives; foam glass; and other building materials – even countertops!
Recycled glass countertops and backsplash by Vetrazzo, a recycled glass surface company in California. How gorgeous!
There are lots of uses for glass.
There is a huge market for glass and so many uses for it. But if you search the internet for information about glass recycling, you’ll find many stories about different municipalities that no longer accept glass in their recycling system. The claim that there is limited or no market for recycled glass is not true. There is a huge market for it.
So why is this system breaking down? What problems are preventing recycling? That’s what I’ll be covering in Part 2. Thank you for reading!
Additional Resource:
Article, “Glass Recycling 101: Jars, Glass Cups and Wine Bottles,” Wine Cellar Innovations, accessed January 10, 2021.
Recycling is easy, at least on the surface. But what happens to recycling after we put it in the blue bin? In my city, I can read the rules on recycling through the city’s curbside service, but I realized that I don’t know what happens to that recycling after it leaves my house. And the answers to simple questions are not clear.
The City of Chattanooga has had some problems with recycling in the past. Glass is not accepted through curbside recycling, but glass brought to the five recycling centers in Chattanooga is recycled.
For a time, glass wasn’t really recycled in Chattanooga
I used to take all of my recyclables to the recycling centers around town before signing up for Chattanooga curbside recycling in 2011. Recyclables had to go in clear or blue plastic bags and then be set on the curb where trash bins were placed. Certain materials such as glass, shredded paper, and numbered plastics #3-#7 were not accepted then. My family took our glass to the recycling center every couple of weeks. It wasn’t a big deal, nor was it a hassle. I was happy to do my part.
Glass recycling, photo by Gerd Altmann on Pixabay.
The city first issued the large 96-gallon blue bins in Fall 2014. Shortly after, the City notified residents that it would accept glass curbside. I was excited, and for 4 years, I rinsed and deposited my glass in the bin. During this time, I discovered that in general, plastic has a low recycling rate. But glass is infinitely more recyclable. I also learned that glass is safer than plastics when it comes to food and beverage consumption. So I began using far more glass than plastic and recycling it curbside.
But during those 4 years, our glass wasn’t really being recycled even though residents dutifully cleaned it, sorted it, and placed it in the blue curbside bins. It turns out that that glass was being landfilled.
No more curbside glass recycling
In January 2018, city residents received a postcard from the City of Chattanooga announcing that they would no longer accept glass in curbside recycling. The postcard requested residents to participate in a survey about glass recycling options in the future.25 Residents would still be able to take their glass to the recycling centers around the city. I thought this was weird, so I looked into it.
Glass was going to the landfill
The Chattanooga Times Free Press reported this January 2018:
“The postcard says glass put into curbside recycling bins is likely to break, mixing with other recycling and making it difficult to sort. That means the entire contents of the bin would end up in the landfill. It’s an ongoing problem. The city added glass to its curbside recycling around the fall of 2014 after it introduced the 96-gallon blue bins. But in August 2015, the Times Free Press reported the glass — and the other recyclables with it in the bins — was being landfilled because it was too dangerous to sort.”26
The City should not have waited four years to stop accepting glass curbside if there was no way to properly handle it. Some, like myself, did not see this article in 2015, so I continued depositing my glass into the curbside bin. I emailed the city about my disappointment but I only received an auto-reply type of response.
Photo by Bart Heirdon on Flickr, Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).
Orange Grove & WestRock
According to a 2015 Chattanooga Times Free Press article, the glass was not recycled because the local separation center, Orange Grove, “isn’t equipped to remove broken glass from the curbside containers’ mix of paper, cardboard, plastic bottles, plastic bags and metal cans.” Their workers were separating the city’s recycling by hand and the broken glass was causing injuries.27 This means the city did not yet have adequate infrastructure to deal with a growing curbside recycling service.
At some point, WestRock (previously RockTenn) took over the contract with the City of Chattanooga to process recycling, but for a time, Orange Grove and WestRock worked together. WestRock, a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF), does have machinery that sorts the glass out of the mix of recyclables, but they couldn’t sell it profitably, according to a manager at WestRock. So the crushed glass was used as landfill cover. “‘We’re having a tough time getting rid of it,’ he stated.” The city’s Public Works Director at the time wasn’t aware that glass put into the city’s blue curbside containers wasn’t being recycled, which seems odd.
In 2015, Orange Grove realized they needed to upgrade their sorting equipment for all materials since curbside recycling in Chattanooga had almost doubled by then. But they needed $1.6 million to do so. They tried to fundraise and a few foundations donated by the local county government declined to assist. The City of Chattanooga provided $250,000. But since this is a city service, shouldn’t the City of Chattanooga pay for that?
In the end, it must have been more efficient to transfer all recycling processing to WestRock than it was to upgrade the Orange Grove center. Further, Orange Grove changed their direction in 2016 to focus on more community-based services. But they still staff the City of Chattanooga’s five recycling centers and three refuse centers.
Today, all curbside recycling in Chattanooga is processed by WestRock.
Why would a city “recycle” something they can’t actually recycle?
If a city or municipality isn’t really recycling something they claim to recycle, it may be because a city like Chattanooga wants to market itself as a greener community than it actually is. Or the goal may be to attract new businesses, entrepreneurs, developers, and young educated people who like the outdoors and sustainable living. Additionally, perhaps Chattanooga wants to get as far away as possible from its past perception as the “dirtiest city in America.”
The Chattanooga Code of Ordinances states that they will collect recycling, but it does not promise to make sure it is recycled. “Eligible curbside recyclable materials include all clean aluminum cans, cardboard, paper products, plastics stamped one (1) through seven (7), tin cans, and food packaging.” As of 2021, an updated ordinance lists glass as a recycling contaminant, but I believe before that glass was listed.28 Note that only plastics #1 and #2 are recycled in Chattanooga and the rest are collected but landfilled instead of actually recycled.
Clear glass bin at one of the recycling centers in Chattanooga. Photo by Marie Cullis.
Questions About Glass Recycling
Through a series of inquiries about recycling, I found my way to a representative at WestRock and asked specific questions about if and how glass was being recycled. The representative was professional and somewhat responsive, but I did not receive answers to my questions. Since the City’s Recycling Department was not helpful either, I ended up contacting the Glass Recycling Coalition (GRC). Through them found my way to a company called Strategic Materials, a member of GRC. I was able to speak to the Vice President of Marketing & Communications, Laura Hennemann, and she confirmed that glass from Chattanooga’s recycling centers goes directly to their Atlanta facility and is recycled.
Strategic Materials and the Glass Recycling Coalition
Strategic Materials is the largest glass recycling company in North America, and they have nearly 50 facilities nationwide. Three of those are in Georgia. Both Strategic Materials and the Glass Recycling Coalition try to teach that glass is 100% recyclable. They help educate residents and consumers, materials recovery facilities (MRFs), local governments and municipalities, and solid waste haulers. The Glass Recycling Coalition’s 2018 survey concluded that 93% of consumers still expect to be able to recycle glass, so obviously, it’s important to people.29
Recycling is extremely complex. If you want to read specifically about how glass recycling works, you can read my articles on glass recycling.
Photo by PublicDomainPictures on Pixabay.
How recycling works in Chattanooga
The Public Works Department in the City of Chattanooga manages garbage and single-stream recycling (meaning all materials mixed together) curbside collection through the Solid Waste and Recycling Division. City employees operate the equipment and run the daily routes, and the City of Chattanooga owns and maintains the trucks. The trucks deliver the materials to our materials recovery facility (MRF), WestRock. The primary purpose of a MRF is to sort materials. WestRock takes the recycling materials, sorts them, and sells the materials to recyclers.
Box produced by WestRock. Photo by Marie Cullis.
WestRock is the primary MRF for much of the Southeast U.S. They are a paper recycling company first, so paper and cardboard recovery are their number one motivation when it comes to materials recovery.
The glass that residents take to the five recycling centers in Chattanooga does get recycled directly by Strategic Materials in Atlanta. While residents sort glass by color at the recycling centers in Chattanooga, Strategic Materials said that this isn’t necessary because they have an optical sorter in their Atlanta facility, which sorts the glass by color. Chattanooga has not updated its signage, so the separate bins at the centers remain.
Glass recycling bins at one of the Chattanooga recycling centers. Photo by Marie Cullis.
Glass causes problems without the right sorting equipment
WestRock, as do many MRFs, asserts that they do not have the ability to sort the glass broken before it reaches their facility, citing damage to their conveyor belts and machinery. The glass can also contaminate the rest of the recycling materials at the MRFs’ facilities. There are several types of contamination, but in this case, it refers to the broken glass pieces mixing in with the rest of the materials and they are difficult to separate out.
That’s why residents in Chattanooga are no longer able to place glass in the curbside bins. If you still are, please stop. It is a wasted effort because it’s going to the landfill and likely causing a bunch of other recyclables to go into the landfill as well. Keep in mind that curbside glass from between 2014 and 2018 was already landfilled. So rinse your glass, save it all in a box, and run it to the recycling center every couple of weeks.
One of several bins of glass I brought to recycle, as I collect from two households. Photo by Marie Cullis.
Are there solutions for the MRFs?
Yes. There is special machinery that can sort the glass pieces from single-stream recycling systems, but it is a major capital investment for the MRFs. So they often landfill the glass instead.
Another solution is to collect glass separately, curbside. Chattanooga surveyed almost 4,000 residents about glass. Most said they were willing to use a separate curbside bin for glass, but they were not willing to pay an extra fee for it. Over half of the respondents were also not willing to haul their glass to the recycling centers.30 That means a lot of glass is being thrown in the trash.
Many articles, including the one that revealed the Chattanooga glass survey results, indicate that the market for glass is extremely low. Laura Hennemann at Strategic Materials said that this just isn’t the case. There is a huge market for glass.
My son recycling glass with me at one of the local recycling centers, 2018. Photo by Marie Cullis.
Despite the issues, keep trying
Recycling alone is not the solution. Reducing and refusing waste is the key.
Glass is 100% recyclable. Glass is a better option than plastic, as far as waste is concerned. In a worst-case scenario, I’d rather have glass in landfills (and oceans) instead of plastic. Why? Because plastic leaches toxins into the water and poisons marine life. Plastic releases chemicals known to cause cancer or other health problems. Glass does not contain these chemicals. So I’m going to keep purchasing products in glass over plastic, every time. Especially since I don’t want chemicals from those plastics in my family’s food.
I’ll also keep taking my glass to the recycling center because I am able and willing to take the time. So I’m asking you to do the same – bring your glass to one of the five recycling centers. If you can’t do it, maybe a friend can drop yours off when they take theirs. For example, I take my in-law’s glass for them every few weeks. I’m happy to do it. What about starting a little co-op of glass recycling in your neighborhood, or at work? Everyone takes a turn, and the glass gets recycled.
Do you have questions or comments or ideas? Please share with me by leaving a comment below!
Thank you for reading. Please recycle, share, and subscribe!
Have you seen this documentary? Bag It is an excellent film, and I wholeheartedly recommend it! It’s a great introduction to not only the problem of plastic bags but of plastics in general. Please check out the trailer:
A must-see documentary
I cannot say enough good about this film. It really hits on all the topics, from the perspective of an everyday person like you or me. Before I saw this film myself a couple of years ago, I had only limited knowledge of plastics, recycling, and toxic products. This film was like my gateway to bigger individual topics – like plastic bag usage; the Great Pacific Garbage Patch; toxins in food from plastic packaging; and single-use disposable plastic…everything. I had thought about those things, but I hadn’t researched them or even read much about them. I love this film! And Jeb Berrier is pretty funny too.
The film also introduced me, through interviews in the film, to a variety of plastic experts, ocean and marine life experts, and organizations trying to make the world a better place. To name a few: Beth Terry of myplasticfreelife.com; Annie Leonard of the Story of Stuff Project; Dr. Sylvia Earle of Mission Blue; Algalita (founded by Captain Charles Moore); the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge; Oceana; the Environmental Working Group; authors Elizabeth Royte and Daniel Imhoff; and so many more that I’m forgetting to include. The filmmakers’ requests for interviews with the American Chemistry Council and others in the plastics industry were denied or received no response. Unfortunately, that has been fairly typical with films that investigate and educate the public on the plastic problem.
Plastic bags that have somehow made it into my home. I’m saving these for trash clean-ups when I go hiking. Photo by Marie Cullis.
Take action with Bag It The Movie
I was completely inspired by this movie! As I mentioned above, this film is one that led me to other important films, authors, individuals, and organizations that are all making a difference and trying to educate people. I consider Bag It to have been a core part of our household’s path to great changes.
I looked up the film’s website in anticipation of writing this article,31 and I was even more inspired! Most of their site is dedicated to using the film as a tool to educate schools, communities, and whole towns. They offer the ability for any person or organization to host a screening for a fee and have a free downloadable pdf Screening Tool Kit, which has step-by-step instructions and resources for screening Bag It. They also have a free downloadable pdf to initiate a Bag It Town campaign, meaning a plastic bag ban.
In my article about a weekend trip to Hilton Head Island, where I discovered that that town is implementing a plastic bag ban this month, I mentioned that I might try to propose one where I live! Between both, I’m SO moved and even more encouraged. If I do propose one in my town, I definitely know where to start now. With the tools provided by Bag It!
Thank you for reading! Stay inspired and be the change!
Plastic Bag laws in the U.S. from plasticbaglaws.org.
There is a coalition of aquariums across the United States striving to reduce the use of plastic straws. The coalition, called the Aquarium Conservation Partnership (ACP), is a collaboration of 22 public aquariums in 17 states, including the Tennessee Aquarium. They help advance conservation policies, educate and inspire audiences, and commit to sustainable business practices.1
Aquariums are awesome and full of wonder and thousands of children go through them daily. So they are poised to be leaders in positive change, and this is a great example of that! One of the things they’re doing is asking restaurants and others in the hospitality industry to reduce the use of straws by only giving them out upon request, instead of automatically. They’re asking individuals to sign a pledge to stop using plastic straws.
My son at the Tennessee Aquarium when he was just 2 and a half. Photo by Marie Cullis.
What’s wrong with plastic straws?
First, the sheer amount of them! Just like with all single-use disposable plastic products, it’s the over-consumption of them. Think 500 million plastic straws per day. That’s more than one straw per person per day in the United States. Our consumption has gone way overboard and has created a waste stream that is too large for us to keep up with! Second, they are not recyclable at all.
Don’t feel guilty about having used plastic straws. Just please refuse plastic straws – START TODAY. Politely refuse those plastic straws – if everyone refuses just one straw per day, we’ll more than cut our usage in half!
Image by Marjon Besteman-Horn from Pixabay.
I threw my disposables into the trash/recycling receptacle like I’m supposed to, how are they ending up in the rivers and ocean?
One of the critical issues with all the media about single-use disposable plastics is that the biggest question is often not answered: How does the plastic end up in the ocean in the first place?
Most people assume that once they’ve placed their disposables into a receptacle, those disposables go to the proper facility. What people don’t know is that many items don’t make it to the recycling facility or landfill. Since that’s out of our control, it seems impossible to do anything about it. But it’s not impossible by any means. The best way to guarantee that your single-use disposable plastics don’t end up in the ocean is…
To just not use them! Refuse them. Find an alternative. Then you do have control. We have the power to be the change.
So back to the question – how are plastics ending up in the rivers and ocean?
There are so many causes! Spillage from recycling that has been transported across the ocean for years to Asia; plastic products shipped across the ocean to the U.S. have spilled from ships; the fishing industry regularly dumps their trash into the ocean; trash and litter get blown or washed into storm drains and rivers that then feed into the ocean; illegal dumping; beach trash; river pollution; microbeads washing down drains; and debris from natural disasters and floods. Plastic bags are picked up by the wind and blown into waterways that flow into the ocean.
Starbucks is one company that is striving to end the use of plastic straws by 2020. Photo by Nadine Shaabana on Unsplash.
Ok, so what steps can I take?
First, let’s support the Aquarium Conservation Partnership. You can do this by signing the pledge (linked under Additional Resources below).
Second, refuse. Just say no thank you. To all single-use disposable plastics. Because recycling is not the answer. Only about 9% of our plastics get recycled. That means 91% is not recycled!
Third, if you must have something commonly produced as a single-use disposable plastic, like a straw, please buy a reusable one. Paper disposables and supposedly biodegradable straws are a better option, but it’s still going to be thrown away after one use. Try a stainless steel straw, glass straw, or bamboo straw.
Fourth, tell others! Tell your friends, your co-workers, your favorite restaurant, the local coffee shop, and your local school. So many to tell!
Fifth, participate in trash clean-up efforts. Join the Litterati. Maybe you’ll prevent some of the trash you pick up from entering the ocean.
Single-use disposable plastic straw found buried in the sand, Hilton Head Island, October 2018. Photo by Marie Cullis.
Last, but not least: Stop supporting businesses that resist change. Consumers hold power: if businesses refuse to meet demands like eliminating single-use plastics, choose not to patronize them. Your spending decisions can push businesses to adapt or risk losing profitability.
Poster advertising that The Trading Post, a popular restaurant in Emerald Isle, North Carolina, is recognized as an “Ocean Friendly Establishment” by the Plastic Ocean Project and Surfride Foundation. “We Only Serve Straws Upon Request.” I love it and will eat there to support businesses like this! Photo by Marie Cullis.
Final Thoughts
Collectively, have the power to create change just by modeling the best behavior. Refuse that straw. Be polite, of course. But just say no. You might influence someone else to refuse straws too. If everyone starts refusing straws, businesses won’t need to order as many. Then the plastic straw manufacturers will have to produce less. And then less will end up in landfills, in nature, and in the oceans. Carry a reusable stainless steel straw with you. Be the change! And as always, thanks for reading.
