Glass Recycling

NHDES Credits:  3.5

Over 185 presenters and attendees from New England and beyond participated in the Northeast Resource Recovery Association's (NRRA) virtual "Recycling with Results" Conference on May 10-11, 2021.   The conference featured six key topics currently faced by the municipal solid waste and recycling industry. NHDES solid waste operator continuing education credits are available for each recorded hour watched. Please contact info@nrrarecycles.org to receive your certificate for hours.  

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 consolidation sites in New Hampshire and Massachusetts where NRRA members can bring their glass for recycling. Once a host site collects approximately 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.

The below article was first published in the January 2021 issue of Resource Recycling magazine, the leading national magazine focused on residential recycling, and is available in the online flip edition format. 

Over 100 communities in the Northeast U.S. work together to move recovered glass to two downstream outlets.

Summary of Specifications and Approved Uses of Processed Glass Aggregate in New England - Environmental and Transportation Agencies 

Wondering how the specifications and uses for processed glass aggregate (crushed recycled glass) vary from state to state in New England?  Did you know that the requirements not only differ by state, but also by state agency? 

Glass Crusher Vendors

Andela Products

Richfield Springs, NY

• 1-315-858-0055
• Website

Compactors Inc.

Hilton Head Island, SC

• 1-800-423-4003
• Website

Glass Aggregate Systems

Faribault, MN

The Northeast Resource Recovery Association is publishing a report summarizing examples of processed glass aggregate (PGA) use throughout the Northeast.  In June of 2020, NRRA launched a survey to collect examples of PGA use.  The survey garnered a total of 18 participants from Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Vermont. Among the survey respondents, most indicated they used PGA for municipal projects with few having used it in private projects. There were no examples of PGA use in a state project.

Parsons Marsh Trail in Lenox, Massachusetts is a fully accessible trail managed by the Berkshire Natural Resources Council.  The trail was designed and built by Peter Jensen & Associates in 2018 to meet U.S.

NHDES Credits:  .75

Did you know that you can use crushed glass in road and infrastructure projects in the place of virgin aggregate such as gravel? For communities with limited options for recycling glass in a cost effective manner, reusing glass locally can be a great alternative.