Toledo’s Imagination Station and a number of industry partners set out last weekend to break the Guinness World Record for the most glass bottles collected for recycling in an hour. The group eventually broke his 2019 record and was set to return some of these bottles to industrial sand.
NSG Pilkington was one of the partners in Imagination Station’s attempt to break the Guinness World Record for glass bottles collected for recycling.
More than 20,970 pounds of glass bottles were collected for recycling in a one-hour effort last Saturday, according to Imagination Station, a nonprofit, hands-on science museum in Toledo. The previous record set in Spain in 2019 was under £5,500. His partner in the effort, Kyle Sword of NSG Pilkington, said a large number of elected officials were in attendance, as well as volunteers from 12 different businesses and schools.
“There were a lot of cars lined up and people ready to deliver donations,” says Sword. “Over the past few weeks, we have been collecting donations and preparing to weigh in his hour. This is good for the community and shows that there are ways we can work together. increase.”
Sword says the collection is a great example of the necessary collaboration highlighted by the 2022 International Year of Glass.
“Toledo is a city of glass, but we don’t work together,” says Sword. “So this was a good time for us to get together and work with other glass companies. should be done collectively.”
He said the U.S. could do a better job of recycling all types of glass, too.
“If we do it right and work together, a rising tide lifts all ships,” says Sword. “It doesn’t help today, but in the long run, if we want a more sustainable future, glass recycling will be part of it.”
Patrick Elmore, president of business development at Infinite Recycled Technologies, says the future of glass recycling is bright. He adds that his company has seen a significant increase in glass recycling over the past few years, led by large manufacturers and processors.
But many companies are hesitant to join the push. This is because glass recycling is expensive and time consuming.
“The main reason is that glass is easy to landfill and generally cheap,” says Elmore. “Companies can throw it in the trash and never think twice. It can also be difficult to find glass recycling companies that deal with architectural glass, especially laminated or insulating glass units. There is also the challenge of training employees to separate the glass from the rest of the waste and change the process to ensure
Despite the challenges, Elmore believes glass recycling will become widely adopted in the future. In fact, he says, hiring has already begun.
“Companies want to be more involved in where their waste glass goes,” says Elmore. “We know we have only hurt the service of making people aware of the importance of glass recycling. Working together or partnering, we are working hard every day to increase the tonnage of glass recycled annually in the United States.”
– Joshua Huff contributed to this article.
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