Recycling Glass in the Wenatchee Valley

by Rick Edwards, Sustainable NCW

While glass is fully recyclable, Waste Management no longer accepts glass for recycling due to the cost of collection and processing.

Many people in our community have been wondering, “What’s the deal about glass? Why can’t we recycle it anymore?” Glass was the first thing that I ever “recycled” as a kid, picking up glass pop bottles anywhere I could find them and turning them in at the local store in return for candy and pop.

Waste Management (WM) DOES NOT ACCEPT glass anymore in their blue curbside recycling carts, and hasn’t done so for a few years. WM has to make a profit off of what it recycles, and glass had become a financial burden. It’s currently not profitable enough for them to collect and haul glass to a willing buyer because glass is heavy and the potential buyers – i.e., glass manufacturing plants – are too far from WM’s Materials Recycling Facility in Spokane.

Is anybody doing anything about this? YES! The Chelan Rotary Club established and operates 911 Glass Rescue in Chelan. Waste Loop’s Recycling Center in Leavenworth accepts glass in a large container, which is then hauled to the Seattle area for processing by a buyer. Wenatchee area Rotary Clubs have been exploring glass recycling options for the Wenatchee/East Wenatchee area for several years. One proposal being evaluated is the potential for a wine bottle wash/re-use facility coming to the Wenatchee area. Currently, volunteers collect glass from their friends and neighbors and haul it to Chelan or Leavenworth.

​You can do the same and then haul the glass you’ve collected up to Chelan or Leavenworth on an already planned trip to get out of town for a while! Plan to eat at Blueberry Hill in Manson or take a walk on Blackbird Island in Leavenworth. But, before you go, make sure you consult the Waste Wizard to see when 911 Glass Rescue or the Leavenworth Recycling Center are open, since both all volunteer staffed facilities have limited days and hours.

Please see the Waste Wizard at: www.sustainablencw.org/wastewizard.

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Rick Edwards is a board member with Sustainable Wenatchee. He has called the Wenatchee Valley home since 1988. Rick is also a WSU Master Gardener and volunteered to develop and implement a long-term landscape renovation plan for the Wenatchee Rescue Mission. Rick’s primary sustainable passion these days seems to be promoting things that will lead to the reduction of landfilling.