
Not far across the Pennsylvania state line, the recycling firm AeroAggregates has a plan to divert $55 million beer bottles from curbside recycling bins in the Delaware Valley over the next year.
The company's proprietary process turns waste glass into 100 percent recycled construction material. A ribbon cutting was held yesterday at the company's plant in Eddystone.
"One of the biggest challenges with recycling glass is that most recyclers require the glass cullet to be of a certain size and sorted by color, said Archie Filshill, founder of AeroAggregates and adjunct professor at Temple University. "A large portion of the glass deposited in recycling bins never gets recycled because it doesn't meet those requirements."
The process breaks down waste glass into an aggregate that can be used for in-fill or insulation in construction projects.
The company pitches the material as being perfect for road construction, especially on the soft coastal soils of the Delaware Valley and Mid-Atlantic Region.