Through the Looking Glass
A transparent look at glass recycling in New England
Why recycle glass?
Glass is made from a high-quality sand called silica that is mined, melted and molded into any number of products. What many people may not know is that there is a worldwide shortage of silica. Yet many of the glass bottles we use are discarded after just one use. Recycling glass products can save both natural resources and financial resources. However, glass recycling programs that turn bottles back into new bottles are limited in the Northeast.
NRRA's Solution
NRRA offers two glass recycling programs that enable participating municipalities to recycle their glass bottles and jars. The first is through a program that recycles glass into fiberglass insulation. The second program involves crushing glass into processed glass aggregate (PGA), which can be used in road and infrastructure projects in the place of gravel and sand.
Two Paths to Glass Recycling
Currently, over 100 communities in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts contribute recycled glass to NRRA's programs.
Participating municipalities that turn their glass into fiberglass are shown in blue. Municipalities that recycle glass into PGA are shown here in green.
Participating municipalities can send their glass to one of seven host sites.
The varied colors on this map indicate which host site facility each municipality contributes to. For example: All communities outlined in red contribute to Keene, NH (host site with red recycling symbol).
Explore the map to see which municipalities participate and where the nearest glass recycling site is to you. Zoom in and out. Click your community to learn more.
Glass Consolidation: Keene, NH
The glass host site in Keene, NH serves 27 communities across New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Vermont. Glass is collected from these communities and brought to Keene where it is weighed, inspected, and stored.
Where's our glass going?
Fiberglass Insulation
Host Site Locations
Glass is collected at one of NRRA's three host sites, then recycled into fiberglass insulation through a Canadian vendor, 2M Ressources. Scroll down see our three glass host sites and learn more about 2M Ressources.
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1
City of Keene Recycling Center in Keene, NH
Contributing communities: 27
Population served: Over 177,000
2
City of Lebanon Solid Waste & Recycling Facility in Lebanon, NH
Contributing communities: 9
Population served: Over 26,500
3
All Metals Recycling in Hardwick, VT
Contributing communities: 4
Population served: Over 9,750
4
2M Ressources in Quebec, Canada
All glass collected for recycling into fiberglass from Keene, NH; Lebanon, NH; and Hardwick, VT, is sent here. Over 40 communities in total contribute glass for fiberglass recycling, including Rye, NH and Wellesley, MA directly.
Processed Glass Aggregate (PGA)
Host Site Locations
For communities that are unable to meet the strict glass-only standard of NRRA's fiberglass recycling program, NRRA has provided for decades an option for crushing glass bottles and jars, plus additional glass-like materials in New Hampshire, into processed glass aggregate to be used in infrastructure projects in the place of sand and gravel. NRRA currently has four consolidation sites in New Hampshire and Massachusetts where NRRA members can bring their glass for recycling. Once a host site collects 1,000 tons of glass from its contributing communities, a mobile glass crusher is brought to the site to turn the recycled glass into processed glass aggregate. Learn more about the process of creating processed glass aggregate and how it can be used in the following video.
Processed Glass Aggregate
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1
Town of Littleton Transfer Station in Littleton, NH
Contributing communities: 7
Population served: Over 14,500
2
Town of New London Transfer Station in New London, NH
Contributing communities: 25
Population served: Over 93,000
3
Waste Management Turnkey Facility in Rochester, NH
Contributing communities: 23
Population served: Over 123,500
4
Town of Dennis Transfer Station in Dennis, MA
Contributing communities: 5
Population served: Over 37,500 (much higher in the summer)
Our Program Serves Over 500,00 People
Each blue circle on this map represents a participating municipality's population. These communities each contribute to a host site. Each green circle around a host site represents the population served by that facility. Over half a million people are contributing glass to be turned into fiberglass insulation and processed glass aggregate.
To learn more about NRRA’s glass recycling programs, visit www.nrrarecycles.org or contact us at info@nrrarecycles.org.
This map was created for NRRA by Antioch University's Antioch Spatial Analysis Lab
NRRA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. This material is based upon work supported under a grant by the Rural Utilities Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Rural Utilities Service.
