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| Home > Resources > Glass > Saskatchewan Glass |
Saskatchewan Glass - Where Does It Go?Because they handle all our glass juice and liquor containers, SARCAN is by far the largest glass recycler in the province. They processed 15 million pounds of glass last year. After they sort and crush the glass, it is marketed (sometimes at a loss) according to colour. The clear glass goes to Potters Industries in Moose Jaw. Potters makes glass beads of various types and sizes. Coloured glass goes to Vitreous in Airdrie, AB to be further processed for use in the fibreglass insulation industry. Regina's glass is collected by Loraas Disposal, who was using it (uncrushed) to reclaim a gravel pit. Over the last six months, growing contamination caused by people putting non-glass items into the bins has led to the gravel pit rejecting the glass. At the moment, the glass is going to landfill. Loraas Disposal collects glass for Moose Jaw as well, all of which is accepted locally by Potters Industries. The Town of Outlook has been collecting glass for recycling since 1993. They crush the glass and use it for fill under sidewalks and as marker for repaired water & sewer pipes. Outlook has found local uses for the glass they collect—they have not marketed glass outside the community since they started collection. Swift Current collects glass in recycling bins around the city. They are currently stockpiling it until they can find a use. They estimate they collect about four tonnes/year. REACT's glass is crushed and used for landfill cover in the winter. They find it does a good job of holding down windblown debris. (Source: WasteWatch, March 2003)
Fragile: SK glass markets
SARCAN’s glass is sorted by colour (clear vs. coloured) and crushed. The clear glass is recycled by Potters Industries (see pottersbeads.com) in Moose Jaw. Their special furnace melts the glass so that it forms beads of different sizes. The beads are used to make highway paint reflective, as well as for sandblasting and another uses, depending on their size. The coloured glass from beverage containers is crushed and shipped to Vitreous Glass in Airdire, Alberta where it is crushed and cleaned further and then sold to local manufacturers of fibreglass insulation. Markets for insulation are related to the demand for new housing and the downturn in the US housing market has, in turn, decreased the demand for coloured glass in recent months. Glass brokers often have minimum requirements. Swift Current is stockpiling its glass and will be able to ship it to market once they have a full semi-trailer load. Because glass is heavy and expensive to ship, some communities try to make use of it at home. The most common application is to crush the glass and use it as an aggregate. It can be used in road construction, under sidewalks, etc. Regina uses its glass as landfill cover. So, driving down the highway at night, you can reflect (pun intended) on how your juice container is making itself useful a second time by keeping us all safer. (Source: May 2008 WasteWatch)
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