LEAVENWORTH — It’s been months since Leavenworth residents could drop a glass bottle in their recycling bin without fear.
Wenatchee Valley customers aren’t affected, but back in
spring, Waste Management phased out curbside glass recycling in Leavenworth —
in part because there’s no reliable market for it. There’s no service that turns
old glass into new glass anywhere in central or eastern Washington. And it
tends to contaminate other recyclable materials, like cardboard and paper.
“This is an effort from Waste Management on a larger
scheme for all of eastern Washington to cut back on that contamination,” says
Ariahna Jones, executive director of the nonprofit association Waste Loop. “And
so it goes city by city and county by county when the contracts are up, in
order for the city to say we acknowledge the guidelines and we will remove
glass from our recycling.”
Waste Loop wants to divert that glass out of the
Leavenworth waste stream, and it’s gathered local partners for the effort. The
group acquired a glass crusher, donated by Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort, and
started a pilot program with bottlers Eagle Creek Winery and Honey Jun Kombucha,
to turn their disused bottles into cullet — a sand and pebble material that
used to be beverage bottles.
“You can utilize it as fill. Some communities have
partnered with the DOT to utilize it along roadways, so it can be really
utilized in any place that sand and gravel is.”
To follow up, Waste Loop has hosted a series of local glass drop-offs, where Leavenworth residents could bring their own glass in for crushing. Now, they’re looking for places where the cullet can be put to use. You can contact Waste Loop on Facebook, or at wasteloop.org.
