Is It Worth It?

Is it worth it?

I was glad when the City of El Paso began a glass recycling pilot project but take a look at these figures:

A total of 218.5 cubic yards of glass have been crushed or 31.14 tons. The cost for processing that glass is $7,478 to date or $1,496 per month.

However, the amount saved by crushing the glass rather than taking it to the landfill has only been $3,496 or $699/month. That comes out to a total loss so far of $3,982 to date or $796 per month. 

In short the City is subsidizing the crushed glass to the tune of almost $800 per month.

On the other hand, people have been using the glass for mulch although that number has dropped to zero over the last month. The only way that the pilot can be successful is for the City to charge a fee for the glass cullet or find a paying customer. Only questions, of course, are whether El Pasoans will pay a fee and whether the fee can be reasonable enough. With sand 10,000 feet deep in some areas of the city, one has to wonder if glass recycling in El Paso is worth it. The City is sure to close the project after the trial year if it continues to lose $9,600 per year.

CEMEX was interested in taking the glass but they wanted more tonnage than the crusher produces. (Crushed glass in cement sparkles and, of course, costs the manufacturer less especially if they are getting the glass for free.) If a smaller cement company would buy the crusher from the City, then the City might be able to supply the recycled glass to them - again for a fee perhaps. 

Friedman, the company that takes El Paso blue bin recyclables, has noticed more glass in those blue bins since the crusher program began. That means that sorting recyclables is more expensive. It seems that El Pasoans know about the glass recycling program; they just don't know that it is a separate recycling process from the blue bin. 

Glass Crusher in Full Operation

Recently it was reported that the glass crusher at the Pendale Collection Station was not working and that recycled bottles were just being trashed. The good news is that the crusher is fixed and operating and that glass bottles were never thrown away.

Miguel Parra of Environmental Services explained the the machine had been down for a week. The operator, he said, "had to refabricate, by hand, the cutting blades of the grinder which resulted in the extended downtime." He added that "all bottles [had been] stored in extra bins until the repairs could be completed."

It's easy to recycle your glass bottles. I just collect mine in a big 5 gallon bucket and then take them to the nearest Citizen Collection Station.

Apparently people are using the glass "mulch" since all of it is being taken - so much so that some are suggesting another crusher or a larger one. The program is working.

Good News for Glass Recycling?

From AndelaProducts.com

Word on the street today is that Cemex has run out of Franklin Red. That means they have gouged out as much of that beautiful rhyolite from the McKelligon Canyon Quarry as they can. That's sad news because it means the beauty of that rock has been forever taken from that large portion of the south end of the Franklin Mountains.

There is yet another tidbit of news coming from the Pendale Citizen Collection Station: Cemex wants to purchase 200 tons of recycled glass! "What for?" I inquired. "Possibly to experiment with" was the answer. Problem is that the Pendale glass crusher has only produced 10 tons of glass mulch so far. 10 tons is good news. Even better news is that El Paso residents are using it. This means El Paso's glass recycling program is working.

It also means that El Paso should think about getting a larger glass crusher. Las Cruces has a $186K crusher purchased from Andela Products. 

Again, 10 tons is great news. However, I still run into people who aren't even aware that they can recycle glass not to mention use the crushed glass for mulch, landscaping and art. 

Save your glass and take it to the collection station nearest you. Go to the Pendale Station to get your free crushed glass.

For further reading 

City of El Paso Garbage Collection Do's and Don't's 

What to Recycle in El Paso 

Benefits of Glass Recycling

Tom Mays Underpass, Solar Energy, New Council and Glass Recycling

Rather than doing several posts, I decided to just bring you up to date about several items.

Photo by Rick Bonart

At long last the work has begun to construct a hike/bike/animal corridor underneath Transmountain to connect the FMSP land to the south to the FMSP’s Tom Mays Unit to the north. I had been made aware of this several weeks ago from a friend of mine and also a friend of TxDOT Regional Engineer Bob Bielek. Now the buzz has begun via email as some have passed by the construction site.

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On the solar front, a potential settlement on EPEC's rate case before the PUC may happen tomorrow. Some are saying that it is the best proposal, which means that nobody will be happy. Who may be the unhappiest: (1) all the folks who will lose their jobs when EPEC kills the solar industry in El Paso, (2) all current solar users and (3) all El Pasoans who will lose a chance to have a clean, sustainable energy future.

Take a look at what France is doing. Imagine roads of solar panels that you can drive on. 

Check out the Bloomberg Business Report Who Owns the Sun. Be sure to watch the video.

Also read New Report Reveals Electric Utility Industry's Influence at Universities. (Note that NMSU is part of the cabal.) It is clear that the fossil fuel and electric utility companies are "out to get" the distributed solar energy industry. 

Read Senator José Rodríguez's op-ed piece in yesterday's El Paso Times as well as his piece in the Rio Grande Guardian. HERE is what he wrote to the PUC. 

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Good news from last week's regular City Council meeting. An ordinance establishing a Regional Renewable Energy Advisory Council passed. Many thanks go to Rep. Peter Svarzbein for being proactive on Council rather than playing politics and being reactive.

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Finally, it seems like glass recycling in El Paso is off to a good start. Marshall Carter-Tripp reports: "I went to the Northwest Collection Center today.  As promised, no water bill was required.  What they had was four recycle bins along a wall.  They had different color tops.  You put the glass in the bins yourself.  Unfortunately the bin with the blue top had been pretty much filled with brown bottles, so I put my blue bottle in with the green bottle and hoped for the best.   The clear glass went in a bin with a grey top. Hope they will refine it a bit but it went well."

For the glass recycling pilot program to succeed, we not only should recycle bottles but use the end products for mulch and more.

Glass Pulverizer Is in Operation

Ribbon cutting at the Pendale Citizen Collection Station
Photo by Terry Sunday

The City of El Paso is now officially in the glass recycling business even if it is just a pilot program. Rep. Lily Limón, Environmental Services Director, Ellen Smyth, and other dignitaries were on hand to launch the new recycling program at the Pendale Citizen Collection Station.

The glass pulverizer
Photo by Terry Sunday

All El Pasoans will be able to drop-off their glass beverage bottles and jars at their neighborhood collection stations. (No window panes, automobile windshields, ceramics or glass figurines please.) The bottles will be taken to the Pendale Station where they will be pulverized. The resulting powder or beads may be used as mulch, road bedding, arts and crafts, etc.

Photo by Terry Sunday

Bottles should be separated by color: blue, brown, clear and green.

Three Important City Council Items Tomorrow

On tomorrow's City Council agenda there are three very important items that should concern the "green" community:

First and foremost - Discussion and action on a resolution supporting the designation of Castner Range as a National Monument. You can see the resolution HERE. It is Item 21.2 on the agenda.

Next - Presentation on 2016 Glass Recycling Pilot Program. It is Item 21.3. Read more about the pilot program HERE. 

Finally and very importantly - Discussion and action on a Resolution establishing a Regional Renewable Energy Advisory Council for the purpose of advising the City of El Paso on matters related to renewable energy strategy and industry development. Item 28.1. You can view the summary, resolution and presentation HERE. The one defect in the proposed composition of the Council is the inclusion of "a single technical advisor from the local electric utility as a non-voting member." Given the fact that the El Paso Electric Company wants to destroy the solar rooftop industry in El Paso, they should have no part in a Regional Renewable Energy Advisory Council. Elpasopolitically comments further.

Glass Recycling Begins This Wednesday

Click on image to enlarge.

Glass recycling in El Paso begins on Wednesday. The ribbon-cutting event begins at 10 AM at the Pendale Citizen Collection Station, 1034 Pendale in east El Paso. (MAP) 

City Council will view a presentation about the pulverizer at its regular meeting tomorrow morning. You can see that presentation HERE.

The good news is that you can take your glass to any of the citizen collection stations in El Paso. 

Laurence Gibson, Chair of the El Paso Group Rio Grande Chapter Sierra Club tells us: "El Paso's Environmental Services Department is now collecting glass at all five Citizen Collection Stations for processing into pulverized glass at the Pendale Road Station. All we have to do is take our clean glass containers to a Citizen Collection Station, separate by color, and we're done. If you want free mulch from glass, you may pick that up at 1034 Pendale Road. This is a hot commodity at the Mesilla Valley Landfill, where the bins are almost always empty."

Glassware just needs to be clean and dry. The pulverizer removes labels.

Remember glass recycling is just a pilot program. How can we help make it permanent? Laurence Gibson offers these suggestions:

• Talk about it with everyone.
• Offer to take your neighbors' glass to a Citizen Collection Station.
• Watch for Environmental Services' how-to handouts. 
• Attend the Jan. 27 Ribbon Cutting (10 a.m. at 1034 Pendale).
• Tell your City Council Rep you appreciate glass recycling and want a pulverizer for your CCS.
• Thank District 7 (Eastside) Rep. Lily Limón for initiating the Pilot Program 
• Enjoy and take pride in a cleaner El Paso

Rep. Lily Limón will have two community meetings on Wednesday. They will be regular district meetings. However Romie Ruiz, the Partnerships & Public Programs Coordinator for the City of El Paso, will offer a special presentation on the glass pilot project at both. (1st Meeting – 7:30 AM – Denny’s – I-10 at Lomaland; 2nd Meeting – 5:30 PM – Carolina Rec Center – 563 N. Carolina Drive)

Start the Countdown to Recycling Glass in El Paso

Handling crushed glass. Picture from Las Cruces Sun-News

Get ready to recycle your glass bottles.

Mark your calendars for January 27th at 10 AM for the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new glass crusher at the Eastside Collection Station, 1034 Pendale. MAP

I wrote about the glass recycling pilot program in an earlier post. Representative Lily Limón championed the program. Laurence Gibson, Chairman of the El Paso Sierra Club Group also helped to bring glass recycling to El Paso. Under his leadership, glass recycling for the city has been a Sierra Club Group "Smart Goal". 

The glass will be finely crushed into a sand-like material which is non-abrasive, thus posing no risk of injury. It can be used for mulch in landscaping, sand decorations and as a replacement for gravel.

El Paso get ready to recycle your glass

District 7 City Council Representative, Lily Limón, has convinced the City Manager to try a pilot glass recycling program in El Paso. A glass crusher is scheduled for delivery to El Paso on Nov. 20th and will be ready to operate in January. As this is a pilot, the glass crusher will be available at one of the citizen drop-off stations, probably on the eastside nearest to Environmental Services. That way the pilot program can be monitored more easily. People can separate and drop off their glass items. After crushing, people can come and scoop out as much crushed glass as they might want. Limón envisions a glass crusher at each of the citizen collection stations throughout El Paso. A glass crusher costs just $23,000 and the one for the pilot program will be less. 

Picture from the Las Cruces Sun-News. Note that the woman is handling the crushed glass with her bare hand.

There is a larger program now in operation in Las Cruces. The glass is finely crushed into a sand-like material which is not abrasive and poses no risk of injury. According to Patrick Peck, the Director of the South Central Solid Waste Authority in Las Cruces, people use it in landscaping for mulch, sand decorations or to replace gravel. A story in the Las Cruces Sun-News reports that the "glass cullet can be used in landscaping and as pipe bedding, as well as being melted down and reformed into art pieces and even tile for mosaics. Cullet can also be used as an additive in concrete, pavement, and other building materials like insulation." 

Peck told me that the plant at first couldn't keep up with demand and now there is still a waiting list. Both the City of Las Cruces and Doña Ana County also have uses for the processed glass.

City Representative Limón is a retired teacher and principal. She has volunteered with a variety of groups, including the Sin Fronteras Organizing Project, UTEP Alumni Association, El Paso Commission for Women, Hispanic Leadership Institute and the United Way.


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The Friday Video: Single Stream Recycling - Leading the Way to Zero Waste

Below is a video production by the Boulder County (Colorado) on their single stream recycling (which includes glass) as they move toward zero waste. You can read more about the video in the "about" section of the video.  Visit the eco-cycle web site and surf, surf, surf. Bookmark and read their blog. Also visit the Boulder Colorado environment site. Again - surf, surf, surf. 

See too their page on sustainability. They have a great definition for sustainability: 

"Sustainability means “The use, development and protection of resources in a way that enables Boulder County residents to meet their needs and maintain a high quality of life, without compromising the ability of future residents to do the same.” Boulder County values balancing a strong economy, protection of the environment and social equity."

Here's the video. Discussion about glass recycling being at about 10:45 minutes. That's right. They successfully recycle glass:

Recycle Glass El Paso!

Want sustainable building? How about a scenario where 501,600 beer bottles are kept out of the landfill and instead used to pave a 5,700 square foot lot? Here's the story (you may have to answer a survey question to read the entire article):

High-tech parking lot helps museum ‘go green’

Not only can El Paso preserve more of its precious mountains because less limestone will be mined for concrete and asphalt mix, but the demand on our landfills will be decreased as well as often destructive stormwater run-off.

It's time for El Paso to recycle glass.

Pourous paving makes sense. Check out this commercial site.

More to come on elpasonaturally.

The Friday Video: Building with Glass

Definitely get to know Wendy Jehanara Tremayne and Mikey Sklar of Hot Springs (Truth or Consequences, New Mexico). They moved from their home and jobs in New York City to Truth or Consequences where they have built "an off-the-grid oasis in a barren RV park..." She authored The Good Life Lab which is at the top of elpasonaturally's recommended book list. 

In today's Friday Video, Wendy demonstrates how to build with glass. Of course, what can be done on a small scale, can be done on a larger scale. I once asked Stanley Jobe about using glass in building roads and sidewalks. He told me that the first step is to get the City to approve the using recycled glass in its building codes. So, come on El Paso. Using recycled glass in construction doesn't have to be required - just acceptable. I'm sure there are standards out there that can be applied here in El Paso.

One more thing before the video. Many of you know that Target advertises that it recycles glass. You can find a bin for glass recycling at each store. elpasonaturally reader, Marshall Carter-Tripp, wanted to know how they recycled - where the glass was taken, how much was taken, what are the logistics for collection. Good questions because they really ask one question: Does Target really recycle glass. Never hearing back from a local store manager, Marshall wrote Beth M. Jacob, the Chief Information Officer of the corporation at the corporate headquarters in Minneapolis, MN. That was mid November when she wrote. It is now just about mid-January. There has been no response. So, one wonders whether collecting glass at each of its stores is just marketing hype that Target employs to brand itself as an environmentally-conscious retailer. One wonders.

Anyway, if Wendy can build with glass, any contractor in El Paso can do it and we have plenty of glass. Here's Wendy: