Ravalli County Recycling (RCR) will hold a glass recycling collection this coming Saturday, October 8th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the north end of the Ravalli County Fairgrounds in Hamilton. RCR will be accepting all colors of glass containers that were used for food and beverages. The glass must be clean with lids removed, but it’s not necessary to remove the labels. RCR charges $1.00 per gallon of glass. As an example, five upright wine bottles and five upside down wine bottles will fit in a 5-gallon bucket. That would cost you $5.00.
“People are so happy to be able to recycle their glass that they don’t seem to mind paying,” says Janice Lee, president of RCR.
RCR, a private non-profit organization, has been around a long time, said Lee. “We have volunteers who have been volunteering for 10 or 12 years.”
She said they used to have a recycling site across from Don’s Home Center north of Hamilton. However, they were forced to close it in 2018 because prices for recycling products were so low that they “were losing money every month.” As an example, she said that when they opened the facility they were getting $50 a ton for cardboard. “When we closed it was less than $1 per ton, plus the trucking costs to take it to Missoula.”
A partner recycling group in Missoula, Recycling Works Montana, found a business in Salt Lake City that will buy the glass and recycle it so that it can be sold for various uses. The company is Momentum (utah.momentumrecycling.com).
According to the Momentum website, all loads they receive are carefully inspected for contamination and hazardous materials. Common contaminants include ceramics, Pyrex, aluminum cans, light bulbs, cardboard, window frames, and mirrors. Then the non-brown glass is sorted out for later processing. The glass is then broken into crude particles for future optical sorting. A slight water mist is applied when necessary to control airborne particulates. Broken glass particles are passed through a trommel (a revolving screen) and sorted into 3/8” and 3/4” sizes. Fans propel the paper labels detached during breaking through the trommel and into a paper recycling bin.
Items that don’t shatter and cannot fit through the screens (corks, caps, lids, errant labels) are collected and recycled.
The glass is then dried in a fluidized bed drier. A smooth ribbon of glass particles enters the drier in a 4-inch bed. Vibratory action moves the particles through the drier. Air is heated to 190 degrees F, using natural gas, and forced through the bed of the drier. Sugars and bacteria are burned and label glue is loosened. Residue floats to the top and is sucked away via a vacuum system. The dried and cleaned glass is screened to cull out specific sizes. Screens are quickly changed to produce different size grades for different customers. For example, fiberglass manufacturing requires all particles to be 12 mesh or smaller.
Glass particles that are too big to fit through the primary screen are sent through the pulverizer. The pulverizer uses 36 hammers inside a small enclosure to aggressively reduce particle size. All particles recirculate until they finally pass through the primary screen.
Particles that are small enough to pass through the primary screen are then processed through the secondary screen and separated into four size grades: 12 mesh to 20 mesh; 20 mesh to 40 mesh; 40 mesh to 70 mesh; 70 mesh and smaller.
The glass particles are referred to as cullet. Glass cullet is classified in sizes that can range from pebbles to sand and even powder. Each size grade is used for different end markets. Some of the uses are: glass container manufacturing; fiberglass manufacturing; abrasives (sandblast media, etc); flux / binder in ceramics and bricks; filler in paint and plastic; hydroponic rooting medium; filtration medium for swimming pools and potentially municipal water; frictionator in matches and ammunition; additive and flux in metal foundry.
The money that RCR raises is almost all donated back to Recycling Works Montana in Missoula, said Lee, because they bring down their equipment, and they haul the glass back to Missoula and they also have to pay Momentum to accept it. “We also have to pay about $500 for a one-day event insurance,” said Lee. “But we really try to support Recycling Works Montana. We couldn’t do this without their help.”
Also on October 8th, cardboard can be dropped off for recycling through a local company. Lee said they are at the fairgrounds the second Saturday of every month. The cost to the public for cardboard recycling is $10 per cubic yard (3’x3’x3’). Lee said the cardboard collection is for residential households only on that day.
In addition, an e-cycling person will be on hand to accept computer towers and laptops. The charge for that is $5 per item. Lee said the e-cycling person takes the computers apart and harvests the metals which she then sells.
Toward the end of October, RCR will have an annual meeting for all its members, a requirement to keep its non-profit status. “You’re automatically a member if you volunteered for one hour or donated more than $1.00 to us in the past year,” said Lee. “So any of those people are invited. Details will be posted on our website (ravallirecycling.com) and our facebook page. We get together and elect officers and we have a potluck and do some singing. We have some volunteers who have written new lyrics to songs that most people know, for example, ‘RCR does glass, glass, glass’ sung to the tune of ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash.’ It’s a lot of fun.”
Ravalli County Recycling holds a glass recycling event three times a year, spring, summer and fall. “It’s a great place to get rid of your glass,” said Lee. So if you miss this one, start saving up for the next one.
Anyone wanting more information can contact Lee by email at janicling@gmail.com.