Driving on Broken Glass

Missouri city considers aggregate as end market for recycled glass.

 

Springfield, Mo., is considering a contract with construction company APAC-Missouri to crush the city’s recycled glass to be used in aggregate for road paving, according to a report in the News-Leader (Springfield, Mo.)

 

The city generates around 375 tons of glass per year from its recycling centers, Barbara Lucks, the city’s recycling coordinator, tells the News-Leader. And with no local end market options for the material, Lucks tells the paper the city spends about $23,000 per year transporting it to other buyers.

 

If the new contract is approved, the city’s recycled glass would instead be stored at the Springfield landfill, where once a year, APAC-Missouri would bring glass-crushing equipment to the site to process the glass into aggregate, according to the paper.

 

The annual service will cost $13,000, saving the city $10,000 per year, Lucks tells the News-Leader.  The city would keep the glass aggregate and could require it be used in city road projects.