Transfer Station Supervisor Shannon Porter outlined a proposal to purchase a $52,000 piece of equipment that would process glass. Around 50% of that purchase price, she said, may be reimbursable by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
The machine would process glass products into sand or cullet, which is essentially crushed glass. The town could then use the sand or cullet, or give it away. “We could have the capacity to not just help us, but other communities and the county,” Porter said at a North Elba Town Council workshop Tuesday, March 3.
The North Elba Recycling Center and Transfer Station stopped accepting non-redeemable glass items on March 1. Town Councilor Richard “Dick”Cummings has said there’s “no market” for glass. People who dispose of their refuse at the transfer station are being asked to pay to discard non-redeemable glass in the garbage.
This new machine would have the capacity to process 100 tons of glass per hour, according to Porter. The sand wouldn’t have to be placed in covered storage, so it could be placed in the town’s existing sand pile.