Ravalli County Recycling (RCR) and Recycling Works MT will sponsor another glass recycling event on Saturday, March 12 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the north end of the Ravalli County Fairgrounds on Old Corvallis Road in Hamilton.
It’s been five months since the last Bitterroot glass recycling day so recyclers have been saving up for a while, said Janice Lee, president of Ravalli County Recycling. Only clean, unbroken, food and beverage containers can be recycled on this day.
According to Lee, for years people have been asking Ravalli County Recycling, the local non-profit recycling group, why they couldn’t recycle glass. RCR volunteers would explain that because glass is heavy, the cost of shipping it would mean little or no profit. Then Recycle Works MT, another non-profit organization in Missoula, found a way. They found a company in Salt Lake City that would pick up Montana glass and recycle it.
Momentum Recycling in Salt Lake City sends loaded trucks to Montana, unloads them, fills their trucks with glass at Recycling Works MT’s Missoula site and drives it back to Salt Lake. In Salt Lake, the glass is repurposed into insulation and other products. Momentum Recycling has a laser system that sorts glass by color. Different colors are used for different products.
Recycling Works MT now partners with Ravalli County Recycling so Ravalli County residents can recycle glass. On March 12, Bitterrooters can recycle glass, cardboard, lap tops, and computer towers. All require payment and in the past recyclers here have shown they are willing to pay to keep our Montana environment clean, and send less to the landfill. Payments required are as follows.
• Glass: $1 per gallon. $5 for a 5 gallon bucket etc. Glass doesn’t have to be in buckets. Volunteers will estimate amount and fees no matter what container you use.
• Cardboard by Bitterroot Cardboard Recycling: Charge is $10 per cubic yard. The amount you can fit into a car is usually around $5. Pick-up loads and larger are more.
• E-cycling by Oreos Refining: $5 for each laptop or computer tower.
Profits will be donated to Recycling Works MT to cover shipping and other costs.
If you have questions you may contact janicling@gmail.com, oreosrefining@gmail.com, and/or Bitterroot Cardboard Recycling at (406) 369-0559.