Unlike other recyclables, glass is too costly to ship to nearby recycling centers in Denver or Seattle. Communities in Montana have worked to establish glass-recycling programs. These programs have struggled due to a lack of statewide support. Other solutions are now being sought to turn used glass into a valuable resource throughout Montana.

* Recycled glass is a virtually free building material that can be used in everything from roads to backfill to insulation, if processed correctly. Many communities across the country are now successfully using glass crushers to create building materials.

* Cities and towns across Montana can use these pulverizers to process glass into sand and smooth gravel for use in various municipal projects. In peer states such as Taos, New Mexico and King County, Washington pulverized glass is already used in road construction, community water supply filtration, and even in playgrounds.

* A state wide glass recycling program will benefit communities by decreasing costs for waste and raw material transportation, and by extending the life of the landfill. The glass aggregate from these pulverizers is also an environmentally friendly alternative in that it decreases air and water pollution by replacing resources that require excavation.

* "What we have here is a building resource that we are sending to the landfill by the truckload everyday," said Erin Heidrich, MontPIRG intern. "If Montana were to purchase a transportable machine that could move from community to community and process waste glass, cities wouldn't have to struggle to maintain glass recycling programs."

Learn more about efforts to create glass recycling programs in Montana by visiting thise link:
* http://recyclemontana.org/