New market for recycled glass created DEP recognizes cost saving, innovative partnership with award In recognition of a public-private partnership that's saving Monmouth County $500,000 a year, the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has given an award to the county as well as Global Recycling Solutions . The recycling award is for the partner's innovative approach to recycling broken, mixed-colored glass bottles, according to a Monmouth County press release. The award was presented at the 26th annual Awards Luncheon held on Oct. 18 at the Sheraton Hotel in Eatontown, according to the press release. Accepting the award on behalf of the county were Freeholder Director William C. Barham, County Administrator Louis P. Paparozzi and Christopher Murray, superintendent at the Monmouth County Reclamation Center, Tinton Falls, the press release said. Barham said the award affirms that public agencies and private industry can work together for the betterment of society. "By having a private company set up shop at the county Reclamation Center, we are able to provide not only recycling services to our residents, but also save taxpayers a considerable amount of money each year by using this product in our landfill operation," Barham said in the press release. Global Recycling Solutions is one of the most advanced Class A recycling facilities in the United States, according to the release. What makes the facility so unique is its ability to crush glass bottles and containers into a glass aggregate that replaces the specialized sand used in construction of the landfill leachate collection system, the release said. John Stanton, Global Recycling Solution's business manager, said that for the past 10 years, glass bottles collected in recycling programs have caused significant problems at other recycling facilities. "We have the ability to handle all of the glass collected in Monmouth as well as the surrounding counties because we now have a market for it," he said in the press release. Murray said that in working with Global Recycling Solutions, the county came up with a way to use all the glass at the landfill. "Normally, we pay $20 per ton or more for filtering sand," Murray said in the press release, "but with this new recycling facility, we will receive the pulverized glass aggregate, which replaces the sand at no cost, saving between $50,000 and $60,000 a month. "Here in Monmouth County," he continued, "we solved the state's glass recycling problem." According to the press release, manufacturers using broken glass, called cullet, want colored glass to be sorted in order to produce new bottles and other consumer products. Many of the recyclers must pay up to $35 per ton to have the unusable, mixed-colored cullet carted away, or face considerable expense to sort these small pieces of glass into clear, green, brown and other individual colors, the release said. Global Recycling Solutions accepts recyclable paper, plastic and glass containers, as well as metal and aluminum cans, for consolidation, processing and shipment to regional markets, according to the press release. Under the contract with the county, the Reclamation Center receives fees from Global Recycling based on the quantity of recyclables delivered to the site, as well as free pulverized and graded glass cullet, according to the press release. In order to remove leachate before it gets into the ground water, the landfill was constructed with a double composite liner. The system includes clay and plastic liners, along with 12 to 18 inches of graded sand above and below the primary liner, the press release said. According to the press release, the drainage layers ensure that any leachate is directed into a series of perforated collection pipes, where it is collected and pumped to a storage tank prior to treatment and disposal. The pulverized glass cullet made on site is being used instead of sand as the landfill expands with the construction of new cells, the press release said. Stanton and Harvey Strauss, the operations manager, accepted the award for Global Recycling Solutions. The pair has been operating Global Recycling at the Reclamation Center in Tinton Falls since July 2005, according to the press release. Strauss said the company is proud to be working with the county to provide the most innovative glass processing facility in the U.S. "Our facility is so efficient [that] it has the capacity to process all of the Class A recyclables (newspapers, cardboard and commingled cans and bottles) collected within Monmouth County," Strauss said in the press release. "I've operated many other recycling facilities, and there is no other facility like this in the country." In addition to providing the pulverized glass cullet to the county for free, Global Recycling Solutions pays a fee to the county that amounts to $10,000 a month, the press release said. Barham said the operations are funded without any taxpayer investment. "Monmouth County residents have a complete recycling facility that is convenient for everyone," Barham said in the release.