Glass Recycling Plant Opens in Virginia

Precision Recycling Industries LLC has opened Precision Recycling Industries of Virginia (PRIVA), a glass recycling plant in Chester, Va.

Initially, the plant will have the capacity to recycle 50,000 tons of glass each year. The recycled glass will be converted into inert, environmentally safe products for use in industries such as abrasives, architectural products, and filtration systems.

The plant will recycle bottles and other glass products generated by curbside recycling systems, recycling drop-off centers, and manned recycling centers throughout Virginia and the surrounding region.

The plant will be a dedicated supplier to Precision Recycling Industries LLC and to Novetas Solutions, the manufacturer of New Age Blast Media. Precision Recycling Industries sells recycled products to industries such as architectural products, filtration systems, and more.

"We will divert 50,000 tons of glass per year from local landfills, turning that glass into a number of useful products," Bill Richardson, founder and president of Precision Recycling Industries, said. "A lot of glass has been going into those landfills, because the recycling systems have lacked a viable, local market for the glass that they collect. We have now provided that market.

Richardson noted that more than 8 million people live within a 100-mile radius of the new plant. "Those communities are generating tons and tons of recyclable glass, and we want to recycle it," he added.

Phase I of the highly automated glass recycling plant has the capacity to recycle 50,000 tons of glass (of all colors) per year. The plant ships its recycled glass products in bulk shipments, in 3,000-pound Super Sacks, or in 50-pound bags. The material can be packed in a customer's own containers. Its products meet the Federal Trade Commission's definition of post-consumer recycled material. In addition, the products meet all requirements of the California Gold Sustainable Carpet Standard, the most stringent such standard in the United States.

Richardson pointed out that recycled glass has a number of environmental advantages. Phase I of the plant has created seven new jobs. All of the jobs have currently been filled.

Richardson said that Precision Recycling Industries is already looking to Phase II, which would mean an expansion of the plant. "We have the capability to more than double the size of our operation, very quickly. We could add a color sort line, which would enable us to more fine-tune our output, and increase our annual recycling capacity to 180,000 tons of glass. We would then be able to produce furnace-ready glass cullet. This cullet could be used by manufacturers in the region that produce new glass containers for companies such as Anheuser-Busch, Miller-Coors, and others. Our expansion will of course be dependant on the market for recycled glass and the state of the economy, but we're very optimistic about the future," he said.

This information can be found at:

http://eponline.com/Articles/2010/01/18/Precision-Recycling-Industries-Opens-Glass-Recycling-Plant.aspx

A Quest For Sandblasting Equipment

I had been looking at sandblast cabinets and compressors online for months but when I would call businesses to ask questions before ordering, they all tried to sell me $2000-4000 setups. I only needed an entry level unit to clean off the plaster and slightly etch the recycled glass castings. No matter how much hand and machine sanding I did, it was proving too time consuming to dig out the tiny embedded plaster bits and properly polish the edges of the castings. Also, since the castings are curved on all the outer edges, I could not use my wet belt sander with more than moderate efficiency. Thus, my quest to find sandblasting equipment in the DC area began.

While researching online again, I stumbled across a chain of stores called the Tractor Supply Company and one was located in Leesburg, Virginia. I called and a friendly store clerk said they had the table top blast cabinets, a variety of compressors and the blast media. So, early last Saturday morning, I was on my 64 mile round trip quest. Traffic was light and when I got about 4 to 5 miles from the store, I saw this huge black bird (a vulture?) with white tipped wings spiraling downward to land on the highway. As I realized it was aiming to land on the side of the highway, I quickly slowed down. The prehistoric looking black bird flew over the front of my car hood, missing it by inches. The wingspan of the bird was wider than my car and I regretted not having my camera or thinking to use my cell phone video.

A few minutes later, I arrived at this busy store that had everything from farm equipment to other interesting materials I could see inspiring future art projects. The store clerk was outstanding and answered all my many questions. I purchased a red Blackbull table top blasting cabinet, a 20 gallon Campbell Hausfeld compressor and affordable black blasting media. The blasting cabinet was at least $40 cheaper than identical ones online (and not even counting shipping). Everything at this store seemed to be very affordably priced. My purchases were loaded into my car and I left.

The other day, my neighbor and his wife assisted me in setting up the compressor and cabinet and it all worked amazingly well. I was worried about the air compressor being loud, but it was not and it did not run continuously as I thought it would. The blast gun quickly took off the plaster bits and lightly etched the glass. I do need to get a small shop vac to plug into the cabinet to help keep the dust down while blasting.

In the next post, I will show photos of a casting with before and after sandblasting effects.

Surprises with Recycled Glass Casting

As I mentioned in earlier posts, I acquire my glass from various sources. Last year, I was given a huge broken glass table top from someone who had an original Noguchi glass table. This clear glass with the typical green tint along the edges looked like plate glass but when I cast it, I received a nice surprise. The glass turned white with just a hint of the pale green color below the surface. It looked like frosted ice which gave an interesting effect to the sculpture below. No frits, enamels or paints were added to achieve this color.

Public Art In Arlington: The Pentagon Memorial---Minimalism At Its Finest

When a catastrophic national event and memorial is so successfully stripped down to its most fundamental elements and a feeling of hope and pride still remain, this is minimalist sculpture at its finest.

The Pentagon Memorial, with its 184 stainless steel memorial benches arranged in groups according to ages, forces one to reflect on more than a roster of 184 names on benches. It is very personal and you feel unique individuals and wonder what they were doing at that age in life. It becomes a frozen moment in time while you walk about each age grouping. You observe a bench for a three year old girl, barely more than a baby, and wonder if she was in nursery school in 2001. You think how today she might be looking forward to entering junior high.

You see individuals in their 30's and 40's who were parents, or maybe about to buy a home for the first time and working hard in their careers. Were they going on a business trip or a vacation? You see older individuals who were perhaps contemplating retirement and looking forward to visiting grandchildren in a few months for the holidays.

The loose gravel underfoot forces you to hear the crunch of your own footsteps and at times you feel a little annoyed by it. Maybe it is there to remind you that you are still here, and they are not, and then you feel almost guilty for a moment.

When you start to see the overall shape of the cantilevered benches, they look like wings, perhaps signifying the memories and journeys really have not ended for these 184 individuals. Whether one sees the benches as plane wings or angel wings or something else entirely, it does not matter and this is what works with great minimalist sculpture. Even children can relate and interpret such art while adults can see layer upon layer of possible but similar meanings.

The running water beneath the benches seems to unite all the individual benches and reminds one that life goes on or maybe of a destination to be traveled to eventually by all of us.

Just as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial set a new artistic standard with its minimalist design, the Pentagon Memorial goes even further and locks you into undulating emotions. While I think it purposefully takes you through this range of emotions, it still manages to leave you with a feeling of hope and pride as Americans and gratitude for these 184 patriots. And, like many Americans, I cannot understand how any of us could ever fail to be proud to be an American and to have this sculpture memorial in Arlington County.

Copyright 2009
Cindy Ann Coldiron

Consumer Products Made From Recycled Glass

Besides artistic uses of recycled glass, more and more companies are inventing methods for using this type of glass.

Kitchen Countertops

Several companies are using mosaic type bits of broken recycled glass embedded in a concrete or resin mix for kitchen countertops. If you are looking for something besides granite, they are a colorful alternative. The Vetrazzo Company is one of the companies that carry this product.

See www.vetrazzo.com

Glass Tiles

Recycled glass in glass tiles is becoming very popular and I think they will eventually become the norm for backsplashes instead of the ceramic tiles. Glass tiles are just as strong and durable as ceramic and come in all shapes and sizes from pebble or stone shaped to conjoined circles to the traditional subway tile. The iridescent tiles, such as the ones carried by Oceanside Glass, can reflect multiple colors and they are stunning works of art. It is important to note that the recycled glass percentage can vary in all of these tiles depending on the manufacturer and the color of the tile.

See http://www.ecobusinesslinks.com/recycled_glass_tiles.htm for a list of companies carrying these tiles.

Construction Aggregate

Crushed recycled glass is being used as a road base additive for asphalt, for drainage, highway fill, and even for landfill cover.

See www.ehow.com/how_2309666_use-crushed-recycled-glass-construction.html for more ideas.

Recycled Garden Glass Mulch

Several companies sell a type of tumbled recycled glass that makes for a shiny accent to your landscaping. Since glass can take 1000 years to breakdown, this mulch is best used on walkways and as an accent. While biodegradable bark mulch will improve your soil as it breaks down, these glass rocks are a novel accent.

However, I am curious how much heat they would retain on a very hot day and whether it would be that easy to keep them clean. Installing some sort of landscape edging would likely be necessary to prevent the glass rocks from floating out of place during a rainstorm.

See http://www.closetheloop.com/products/gardenglassmulch.html for more information.

Snow Can Look Like Crystallized Glass

The Big Snow in Arlington, Virginia.

A PSA Announcement on Glass Recycling